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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 5069 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1807 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* Orange - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 813 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 1730 Views
well, the publication date for that book is set somewhere a year from now.. jh - 19/02/2012 07:48:58 PM 1582 Views
Agreed on both points..... Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1713 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint Tom - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1725 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1713 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying Tom - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1667 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1795 Views
Storytelling is crucial... DomA - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 1835 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1728 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1699 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1635 Views
Literature is subjective cortez1 - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1731 Views
Very well said..... *NM* Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 771 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. Tom - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1799 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1593 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? Larry - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 1892 Views
Oh, come now... fionwe1987 - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1874 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 1629 Views
Mostly agreed cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1727 Views
Mostly true Larry - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1733 Views
Re: Mostly true cortez1 - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1506 Views
Larry = snob Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1683 Views
Amusing Larry - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1682 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1648 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 1772 Views
See I think the word "entertaining" is misleading cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:31:59 PM 1657 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 798 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* Anonymous2000 - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 818 Views
Just checking... *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 797 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 1549 Views
On the subject of people who drop out of the canon Tom - 23/02/2012 01:07:10 AM 1723 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. Tom - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1726 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1742 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. Legolas - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1748 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1670 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... DomA - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1727 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... Anonymous2000 - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1463 Views
Re: Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... DomA - 13/03/2012 03:10:12 AM 1744 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" DomA - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1705 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1807 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 858 Views
Seems like an awful lot. everynametaken - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 1921 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different beetnemesis - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1776 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 869 Views
Re: Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different j-whitt987 - 20/02/2012 03:00:17 AM 1911 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 1685 Views
Likewise. After reading Mistborn and Warbreaker I started looking into him more Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:20:09 PM 1729 Views
It's likely to stay that way... DomA - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1801 Views
I think he can actually do both Werthead - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1855 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both DomA - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 1930 Views
I love it. Nate - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1612 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* Ghavrel - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 764 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1523 Views
The one issue I had with that book... Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1624 Views
Waxillium! *NM* beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 771 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* Darth_Katie - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 992 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. callandor1000 - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1579 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* Kaldric - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 853 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? xtet19x - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 1410 Views
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