tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post9046719389500519960..comments2023-09-08T02:39:21.112-07:00Comments on Jessica Snell's blog: Book 8 of 15: Living by Fiction by Annie DillardJessica Snellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17185831697537364088noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-27078214426470020072010-04-26T21:06:03.276-07:002010-04-26T21:06:03.276-07:00This makes me sad because Pilgrim at Tinker Creek ...This makes me sad because Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is one of those books that is like an old friend to me. I was just having a discussion with my sister-in-law today about how really good writing needs to be well-done but also true and accessible. Ulysses, for example, may be a brilliant demonstration of the use of language, but I will never think it is good in the sense that a Shakespeare play or a Flannery O'Connor short story is good. Joyce may be a linguistic genius, but writing for writing's sake is like modern art that just demonstrates the method without conveying a meaning. It serves no one.<br /><br />Have you ever seen the movie, Lady in the Water? If you don't like what criticism does to literature or film, then you would love that movie.TwoSquareMealshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01000292109449832461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-91541858216171537482010-04-26T14:55:32.541-07:002010-04-26T14:55:32.541-07:00Girl Detective, I haven't read Prose, but now ...Girl Detective, I haven't read Prose, but now I have her book on request at my library; thank you!<br /><br />Annie, I'm pretty sure I have read The Writing Life and enjoyed it, but I might have to reread it to restore my faith in Dillard!Jessica Snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17185831697537364088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-29844142557521710942010-04-25T14:24:59.556-07:002010-04-25T14:24:59.556-07:00I had a similar --though much shorter =)-- respons...I had a similar --though much shorter =)-- response to this book: I thought it was about writing, but it was about criticism. Very disappointing, especially as I love her other things so much. But The Writing Life IS about writing, and you'll like that MUCH more. =)MomCO3https://www.blogger.com/profile/07231541513973893466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-79944699301418825342010-04-25T07:41:41.746-07:002010-04-25T07:41:41.746-07:00Jessica, I almost always write longer reviews of b...Jessica, I almost always write longer reviews of books I don't like than of ones I do, to be clear on why I didn't like it. Have you read Francine Prose's Reading like a Writer? I loved that one, as it argued that a lot of lit crit kills the fun of lit.Girl Detectivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16348689834879722062noreply@blogger.com