There, I said it. I, who have never so much as penned a short story have dared to criticize the millions of professionals who make their living via the written word, and the cajillions more who are certainly trying.
Remember this book we read and discussed?
I had lamented that the story I wanted to read was the author's own. Her true real-life experiences as a daughter of missionaries in Africa seemed so much more interesting than the anti-religious bent she gave to what she did write.
But what sells better, ultimately?
You guessed it.
How easy it is to pen a play or novel about a typical suburban family in an all-to-familiar backdrop and give it that anti-religious-bigot twist? Oh, and happy day! It's a money-maker, and a liberal crowd-pleaser! And maybe, I'll finally make my millions!
How much harder would it be to actually tell the true stories? To delve a little deeper into the lives of typical suburbia and pull apart the myriads of embroidered truths? The human soul is a complex entity, no two are alike. And when we take the dynamics of a family, we have then an entire household of complicated story lines and the unraveling of it would take a master hand.
A Master's hand.
No, I am not ranting about any one movie, play or novel in particular. I am merely raging against the machine. Let's hold our literary pursuits to higher standards. Let's make sure that the stories that are told and that we enjoy are more edifying than most of the crap on the bestseller's lists.
:P
3 comments:
Hmmmmm. This doesn't have anything to do with that book you are supposed to be reading for your book club?
Actually, no! C.S.Lewis is a genius in my eyes... (although maybe this space trilogy is garbage, I haven't read enough of it to make that judgment)
I'm honestly just reacting more to a general "trend" than any one specific thing.
You need to read Elizabeth Goudge to make you feel better. Start with her Eliot family trilogy.
Post a Comment