Posted ByElroy on November 06, 19101 at 14:07:07:
In Reply to: Re: beef, and legit! posted bykeiran. on October 25, 19101 at 16:27:19:
: good one kunta,
: i like to see someone fire a few well meant salvos at the intellectual class who have appropriated literature. the state of the novel is this: it's more about the presentation of the book in a waxy bright cover with a few choice quotes on the back. it's all about getting a modicum of acclaim for your first novel, and then living off that for a while. like miller stated, unless someone has lived a full life or they have a genuine love and admiration for literature (and not their own response to it) they should leave it to others.
: however, what i would say is; the world is a different one to the one miller wrote in. the obvious targets for him, bigwigs in suits and with halitosis and no appreciation of art etc. those people no longer exist. art itself has been appropriated by commerce, creativity is packaged. what is the answer? i don't know. maybe the world is not as bad as when miller was here, i suspect that art is retreating further and further into itself and hiding from the populace.
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I tend to think that the world is not so different today than it was during the time Miller was writing. So its tough to make a buck if you're writing something other than pulp - big deal, its always been that way. Dostoevsky was destitute too. Sometimes young writers who write good stuff actually do get acclaim. Its somewhat rare, but examples from Miller's time include Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Shit happens.
I do agree with the general sense of nausea at the marketing of the publishing mainstream, its just that I don't see the stuff they're pushing as being worthy of my interest. Here's a bit from an article Miller wrote called, "Literature as a Dead Duck"...
One of the most pleasant recollections I have of my recent trip to Europe is the number and variety of good books which were everywhere in evidence. What a relief it was to be looking again at paper-backed books whose titles, authors', and publishers' names alone combine to make such attractive, seductive cover designs. Is there anything more dull, monotonous, and destructive to the appetite than the typical American hard-cover book whose paper jacket screams and shrieks to capture attention?
The complete article can be found on the "Henry Miller: American Author" website ( http://geocities.com/steletti/pages/henry.html ). A link to the specific article is below...