The Guardian has brought a few critics and writers together to give their opinions. Some interesting comments . . .
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John Baker’s Blog
Reflections of a working writer and reader
Reflections of a working writer and reader
The Guardian has brought a few critics and writers together to give their opinions. Some interesting comments . . .
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Feb 25th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Yes, the comments are very revealing, often of the authors themselves.
jb says: Agreed. I particularly like Louise Doughty’s closing remark:
In the end it is not for us to identify the great writers. We don’t have any sense of perspective. Kafka published virtually nothing in his lifetime, while Pearl S Buck won the Nobel prize for literature.
Feb 25th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Dear John,
The interesting thing is that most of the contributors either mention Amis in a positive or negative way, so one way or another, he has had an impact on their reading lives.
It’s almost like going out with a girl and all she wants to do is talk about her ex… well, you get the idea
jb says: Hi Geoffrey. Amis is like that. There is no doubt whatsoever that he was a prodigious and precocious talent. This probably led to overblown or unreal expectations, something that the media, generally, find inexcusable.
Feb 25th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
JB, I didn’t know that about Kafka. Makes you think…
jb says: There are other examples, I believe. Several poets, lots of women . . .
Feb 26th, 2007 at 7:37 am
And Proust had to pay to have his first volume of Remembrance of Things Past published, I’ve just learned.
jb says: The inheritance allowed him to write.