tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post113694773662382308..comments2023-12-29T01:04:14.708-05:00Comments on a cat and twenty.: deceitful above all things, indeed.kate.d.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09967162934828397188noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1137383008141689572006-01-15T22:43:00.000-05:002006-01-15T22:43:00.000-05:00So you got your Oprah answer! Thank god for Larry...So you got your Oprah answer! Thank god for Larry King, eh?<BR/><BR/>I just don't know what to think about this whole thing anymore. it kind makes me never want to read another book again, you know? Just in case. Well, not really.<BR/><BR/>My sister called last night asking me to join a book club with some of her friends. She thought we would start with Emma. She called me today. A few people don't want to read a "classic". Their suggestion? "A Million Little Pieces." People are insane.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01315635580312475748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1137017547840750792006-01-11T17:12:00.000-05:002006-01-11T17:12:00.000-05:00oh, and elizalou, i think it's hard to compare lol...oh, and elizalou, i think it's hard to compare lolita to this because it was decidedly fiction. lolita is interesting and contentious on a whole bunch of levels (i have to say, i did enjoy it as a reading experience - i read it in a matter of days, and like nabokov's use of plot structure and language), but it's something different.<BR/><BR/>the other questions concerning the nature of reality and criticism, well, that would take more time! maybe more posts on this later....kate.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09967162934828397188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1137017391627913902006-01-11T17:09:00.000-05:002006-01-11T17:09:00.000-05:00dorothy, how funny, i was posting about the salon ...dorothy, how funny, i was posting about the salon piece while you were commenting here :) i'm such a salon junkie, it's ridiculous.kate.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09967162934828397188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1137009526971108492006-01-11T14:58:00.000-05:002006-01-11T14:58:00.000-05:00oooh, good point, dorothy. I didn't think of it fr...oooh, good point, dorothy. I didn't think of it from that angle.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01315635580312475748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1137007149710036652006-01-11T14:19:00.000-05:002006-01-11T14:19:00.000-05:00Salon has as their front-page story a piece by Aye...Salon has as their front-page story a piece by Ayelet Waldman (Mrs. Michael Chabon) on how she got schnookered by JT (sort of). She has some interesting observations about why she (and other writers and celebrities) went out of their way to help JT. Worth a read, but what's really good are all the snarky comments.<BR/><BR/>Would the JT Leroy books have been published if not for the backstory? I mean, if they'd just been sent to an agent, or to a publisher left to stand on their own merits, would they have ever seen the light of day?<BR/><BR/>Would Frey's book have been able to be published if he had tried to sell it as a novel?dorothy rothschildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13732990831552864423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1136989775081026182006-01-11T09:29:00.000-05:002006-01-11T09:29:00.000-05:00The James Frey case, in isolation, seems, on one l...The James Frey case, in isolation, seems, on one level, alluring... if only because it raises contentious issues like authenticity and authorship and weaves them into his already spiderwebby plotline. <I>For that book.</I> <BR/><BR/>But, if he is to contend that this was employing a literary device rather than simply lying, then we have the start of a literary avalanche. Literary truths are meant to be angled and twisted, but the core of a memoir relies on nuggets of truth, or the center starts losing hold. And then we either have a "postmodern memiorish piece" or...umm... fiction.<BR/><BR/>Sure, we never know in what reality the author's truth is located, but as long as s/he gives us loose directions on how to find it, then who am I to question its relative truth?jayniekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14893956452502304978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17027941.post-1136956065447746172006-01-11T00:07:00.000-05:002006-01-11T00:07:00.000-05:00I was just discussing this a few minutes ago. A f...I was just discussing this a few minutes ago. A few questions came up that I haven't really had time to think about. I'm not arguing here, I'm just kind of throwing them out there. 1, 2, 3, explore.<BR/><BR/>First, as a reader, shouldn't you go into anything with a critical eye? Don't you get more out of a book when you think about specific parts and question them? <BR/><BR/>Is it worth reading something if you're going to believe everything you read? How is irony achieved if not through these literary tricks? Take, for example, Lolita. If you were to take everything in that book literally, you'd have to think that Nabokov was advocating child rape. He's absolutley not and that's what makes the book so good (am I the only feminist that likes it?).<BR/><BR/>And last,are we <I>owed</I> anything by books, even those claiming to be memoirs? People read things to be entertained and turned on. Memoirs are especially gripping because of the "personal" view they offer. But is Reality television actually real? Do people get so upset when it turns out that Omorosa is really not a total bitch, but is sort of a fame whore? <BR/><BR/>Oh, wait, they do. I haven't read the book nor anything about the author, so these are just kind of philosophical questions. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://fluffydollars.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Fluffy Dollar$$$ </A> has an actual well thought out post about this.<BR/><BR/>Done.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01315635580312475748noreply@blogger.com