Question

[JoanS]

Yesterday I was asking to stars in the heaven why there's no Dante, no Shakespeare, no Flaubert, no Joyce, no Mann in our century.. so sad :bawling:

[sir orange]

the century has just started, give it some some time!
sir orange

[JoanS]

i dont see any talents, besides all caregories of art are in the end of the road..

[PeterL]

If you feel that "all categories of art are in the end of the road," then you may not notice them when they produce something.

[sir orange]

that's the way peter!

[sir orange]

anyway, just think about J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter had a success comparable to Dickens' Pickwick Club.
sir orange

[Dori]

You're really comparing J.K. Rowling to Dickens?

[sir orange]

of course not. I only think that her success is not unmotivated, and that if she's the most sold author in the world, she's not that bad after all...
sir orange

[Kafka's Crow]

of course not. I only think that her success is not unmotivated, and that if she's the most sold author in the world, she's not that bad after all...
sir orange

Only time will tell how 'great' Rowling is. I don't think she will stay big without her publisher's very sophisticated marketing and the hype called Pottermania. Rushdie is still alive and writing but we must remember that we live in very different times and an overall takeover of society by rampant commercialism can hinder people from working 'for the love of it'. 'Write in blood', says Nietzsche's Zarathustra, 'and you will discover that blood is spirit.' How can you 'write in blood' when the primary purpose behind writing is not to create a masterpiece but to churn out a bestseller.

WITH USURA


With usura hath no man a house of good stone
each block cut smooth and well fitting
that design might cover their face,

with usura

hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
harpes et luthes
or where virgin receiveth message
and halo projects from incision,

with usura

seeth no man Gonzaga his heirs and his concubines
no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quickly

with usura, sin against nature,
is thy bread ever more of stale rags
is thy bread dry as paper,
with no mountain wheat, no strong flour


with usura the line grows thick


with usura is no clear demarcation
and no man can find site for his dwelling
Stone cutter is kept from his stone
weaver is kept from his loom

WITH USURA

wool comes not to market
sheep bringeth no grain with usura
Usura is a murrain, usura
blunteth the needle in the the maid's hand
and stoppeth the spinner's cunning. Pietro Lombardo
came not by usura
Duccio came not by usura
nor Pier della Francesca; Zuan Bellin' not by usura
nor was "La Callunia" painted.
Came not by usura Angelico; came not Ambrogio Praedis,
Came no church of cut stone signed: Adamo me fecit.

Not by usura St. Trophime

Not by usura St. Hilaire,

Usura rusteth the chisel
It rusteth the craft and the craftsman
It gnaweth the thread in the loom
None learneth to weave gold in her pattern;
Azure hath a canker by usura; cramoisi is unbroidered
Emerald findeth no Memling

Usura slayeth the child in the womb
It stayeth the young man's courting
It hath brought palsey to bed, lyeth
between the young bride and her bridegroom


CONTRA NATURAM


They have brought whores for Eleusis
Corpses are set to banquet

at behest of usura.

________________Ezra Pound CANTO XLV

[metal134]

I think it has largely to do with the homgenization of everything. See, in Dickens' day, most of the people buying books were the modertly wealthy. Books were a luxury, and because of that, his books didn't have to have a wider appeal. But now, almost everyone has books, so authors have to target a more general audience and thus, it's dulls the material. There will always be some hidden gems like Pynchon and McCarthy that don't care about mass market appeal and thus, will produce works that rival them. But the days of the most famous artists being the ones that are the most sophisticated are over.

[Kafka's Crow]

Nobody will be allowed to create a masterpiece like Dante's or Milton's in our age because there is no publisher around who would take the financial risk. Maybe with the advent of the internet things might change but then cybertexts are short-lived and depend on the longevity of the servers etc for their life.

[Old Crow]

I don't think we'll ever see the rise of genius' on the scale of Shakespeare or Plato or Dante in our life time. Minds like that are far rarer than 'once-in-a-lifetime' if you ask me. That doesn't mean there aren't brilliant minds out there, though, it's just that it's sometimes hard to see through our cultural veil to tell what's actually genius and what's just ephemeral. Had you told certain individuals who read the first edition of Moby Dick that people would still be reading that book over a hundred years later, you would have probably been scoffed at.

[B-Mental]

Really, you have to look at the change in technology. Mass publication was so very difficult. Why isn't it possible that today, we have several persons capable of being just that unique a person, but now they all have a method of releasing their art form. It much more difficult for the public to queue in on just one. Those masters may not be found until after they are gone, which is frequently what happens in art.