To the List:
This is aninteresting article. Smith's view of fiction seems
antithetical to that of VNN.
But my question is:
Times New RomanMain Entry:
Arial2helter-skelter
Times New RomanFunction:
noun
Arial1:Times New Romana
disorderly confusion
Arial:Times New Roman2323,5050,8A8ATURMOIL
Arial2Times New RomanBritish
Arial:Times New Romana
spiral slide around a tower at an amusement park
Which does she mean?
Sandy Drescher
On Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at 05:08 PM, Sandy P. Klein wrote:
<
0000,0000,FFFFhttp://januarymagazine.com/2007/01/fail-better.html
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
9999,0000,0000Fail Better
<ì... somewhere between a criticís
necessary superficiality and a writerís natural dishonesty, the truth
of how we judge literary success or failure is lost.î
In a two article series for The
Guardian,
6666,0000,FFFFZadie Smith
(White Teeth, On Beauty) doesnít pull any literary
punches. Smithís lengthy, two-part piece is wonderful, managing as it
does to be both accessible (ìThatís how young readers are, too, when
they start out. They are doubters and seekers.î) and urbane (She
quotes both Kierkegaard and Nobokov while somehow never losing her
of-the-reading-masses tone).
I have said that when I open a book I feel the shape of
another human beingís brain. To me, Nabokovís brain is shaped like a
helter-skelter. George Eliotís is like one of those pans for sifting
gold. Austenís resembles one of the glass flowers you find in
Harvardís Natural History Museum.
Thereís so much here that is terrific, the temptation is just
to quote and quote and quote: most of what Smith shares in the space
is worth repeating. But Iíll save both of us the effort: part one
6666,0000,FFFFis
here, put two
6666,0000,FFFFis
here. Savor it for yourself.