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Oh, come now... fionwe1987 Send a noteboard - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM

By "you," referencing the attitudes of those who dismiss out of hand authors who have earned some sort of cultural cachet in favor of what? Would I trust a non-expert to fix my car? To diagnose a medical condition? To do my taxes?

Of course not. Then why would I want to trust a non-expert when it comes to evaluating things such as music, literature, and cinema? I've learned something of the first and last through observation, but I've also discovered that there's a ton of people with shit tastes.

If you've never read The Magic Mountain or Doctor Faustus and want to praise Brandon Sanderson of all people for what he writes, there truly is no accounting for taste.

I agree with the crux of your point, but how the hell can you compare a literary/art critic with a mechanic, accountant or a doctor? No art critic can make definitive, objective, true-in-all-contexts statements about what is "good" and what is not.

You can trust a doctor to fix your body and not a random guy because there is definite knowledge a doctor has is real.

If you "trust" an art critic to tell you what is good, then you're hopeless. The best a critic can do is explain his personal reaction to any work in terms that can help you choose. The best of them will compare with other relevant works, explore the context of the work, etc., and the worst will simply use a points or star system. Either way, you read multiple reviews, compare the critics view with your own, and "trust" him or not on the basis of how much your tastes match. Hardly a scientific process.
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Brandon Sanderson plans 36 books in his 'Cosmere' setting Werthead - 19/02/2012 11:45:24 AM 4575 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1377 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* Orange - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 599 Views
I just wish he'd be done with the RJ shit and go back to writing his own books. Tom - 19/02/2012 05:40:59 PM 1311 Views
well, the publication date for that book is set somewhere a year from now.. jh - 19/02/2012 07:48:58 PM 1172 Views
Agreed on both points..... Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1271 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint Tom - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1331 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1270 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying Tom - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1237 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1368 Views
Storytelling is crucial... DomA - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 1355 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1295 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1278 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1222 Views
Literature is subjective cortez1 - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1309 Views
Very well said..... *NM* Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 565 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. Tom - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1342 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1190 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? Larry - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 1429 Views
Oh, come now... fionwe1987 - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1355 Views
When it comes to evaluating schema, I'm not going to trust someone who only had English 101 Larry - 21/02/2012 11:26:03 AM 1154 Views
Mostly agreed cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1236 Views
Mostly true Larry - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1272 Views
Re: Mostly true cortez1 - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1111 Views
Larry = snob Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1219 Views
Amusing Larry - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1210 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1190 Views
No, I read that and didn't disagree that there couldn't be works that had both (read other comments) Larry - 21/02/2012 09:23:31 PM 1304 Views
See I think the word "entertaining" is misleading cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:31:59 PM 1214 Views
Uh...Faust is a play. Doctor Faustus is a novel. The former is Goethe, the latter is Mann. *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 12:00:22 AM 603 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* Anonymous2000 - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 603 Views
Just checking... *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 549 Views
I suppose fame is relative, but the most famous Doctor Faustus, to me personally, is indeed a play. Legolas - 22/02/2012 07:29:59 PM 1116 Views
On the subject of people who drop out of the canon Tom - 23/02/2012 01:07:10 AM 1293 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. Tom - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1320 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1288 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. Legolas - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1343 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1221 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... DomA - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1202 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... Anonymous2000 - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1052 Views
Re: Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... DomA - 13/03/2012 03:10:12 AM 1280 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" DomA - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1232 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1382 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 638 Views
Seems like an awful lot. everynametaken - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 1422 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different beetnemesis - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1345 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 610 Views
Re: Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different j-whitt987 - 20/02/2012 03:00:17 AM 1400 Views
Same here- I didn't know about the Cosmere at all until I started poking around online beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 03:25:36 AM 1247 Views
Likewise. After reading Mistborn and Warbreaker I started looking into him more Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:20:09 PM 1277 Views
It's likely to stay that way... DomA - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1348 Views
I think he can actually do both Werthead - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1381 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both DomA - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 1424 Views
I love it. Nate - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1174 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* Ghavrel - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 548 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1103 Views
The one issue I had with that book... Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1216 Views
Waxillium! *NM* beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 526 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* Darth_Katie - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 746 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. callandor1000 - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1126 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* Kaldric - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 622 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? xtet19x - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 983 Views
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