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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 5228 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1909 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* Orange - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 892 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 1836 Views
well, the publication date for that book is set somewhere a year from now.. jh - 19/02/2012 07:48:58 PM 1680 Views
Agreed on both points..... Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1822 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint Tom - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1849 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1823 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying Tom - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1776 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1897 Views
Storytelling is crucial... DomA - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 2000 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1832 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1834 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1741 Views
Literature is subjective cortez1 - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1849 Views
Very well said..... *NM* Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 857 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. Tom - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1941 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1717 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? Larry - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 2006 Views
Oh, come now... fionwe1987 - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1995 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 1754 Views
Mostly agreed cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1846 Views
Mostly true Larry - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1865 Views
Re: Mostly true cortez1 - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1603 Views
Larry = snob Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1802 Views
Amusing Larry - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1800 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1749 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 1889 Views
See I think the word "entertaining" is misleading cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:31:59 PM 1795 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 862 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* Anonymous2000 - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 885 Views
Just checking... *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 849 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 1651 Views
On the subject of people who drop out of the canon Tom - 23/02/2012 01:07:10 AM 1843 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. Tom - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1846 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1857 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. Legolas - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1846 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1775 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... DomA - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1877 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... Anonymous2000 - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1560 Views
Re: Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... DomA - 13/03/2012 03:10:12 AM 1864 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" DomA - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1835 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1940 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 914 Views
Seems like an awful lot. everynametaken - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 2037 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different beetnemesis - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1873 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 924 Views
Re: Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different j-whitt987 - 20/02/2012 03:00:17 AM 2042 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 1796 Views
Likewise. After reading Mistborn and Warbreaker I started looking into him more Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:20:09 PM 1832 Views
It's likely to stay that way... DomA - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1929 Views
I think he can actually do both Werthead - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1989 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both DomA - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 2063 Views
I love it. Nate - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1720 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* Ghavrel - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 819 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1623 Views
The one issue I had with that book... Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1732 Views
Waxillium! *NM* beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 839 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* Darth_Katie - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 1072 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. callandor1000 - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1698 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* Kaldric - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 923 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? xtet19x - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 1510 Views
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