Going the distance ...

... Why do some artists seem to fade away while others last forever? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Personally, I was most deeply affected by the letter John Updike writes in response to questions put to him by Delbanco. Delbanco wants to know how Updike's work habits have changed since his early days as a writing "apprentice." He wants to know if Updike's goals have been redefined. He wants to know, finally, if Updike himself had written about lastingness in some oblique or overt way. Updike's response is both eloquent and tactical, reminding us that ultimately it's the daily details that matter most - the discipline of the artistic endeavor, the motivating ideal (again and again) of a finished work, the refined understanding of what true art is:

"By and large what lasts best is the most concrete, the most actual, delivering to the reader a piece of earth and humanity. Aesthetic flourishes fade and wrinkle, though they may get attention when new. A blunt sincerity outlasts finely honed irony, I would think. An ability to see over the heads of important contemporary issues into the simple truth of daily life is what we can respond to a century later."