Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Speaking for those you disdain ...

... Critics' choice? (Hat tip, Ed Champion.)


As a Literary Novelist, Franzen is "painfully conscious," and so must bear the burden of those who are not. The insights he shares won't alienate the "beleaguered" modern reader — Grossman assures us we'll enjoy Freedom because it's not too difficult to read.

2 comments:

  1. Near the end, we have this critique of "an embattled critic class who're busy foisting something from which they've sucked all the joy onto a public they don't seem to respect."

    This hints at the heart of the problem: too many critics as egoists are not really interested in the books about which they are writing but instead are more interested in their own words.

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  2. That's the whole problem in a nutshell, R/T. The whole culture of "celebrity critic" is a symptom of this. I prefer reviewers to critics, as a result. They tell you what they like, and don't like, and don't try to turn things into a Grand Theory. One wonders if the problem isn't also connected to the fall of the independent (journalist/reader) critic and the rise of the academic-based (theory-based) critic.

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