it may never try
but when it does it sigh
it is just that
good
it fly
That's my feeling, too, Mona.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka
I would place The Quotations of Chairman Mao more with the required reading in a literature class, like Eliot's The Wasteland. It is clear why these are read--for survival, not enjoyment. Neither of these examples, in my view, are great literature.
However, getting a bestseller in a free market place deserves to be acknowledged as an achievement. The most important question is how that happened, not a rant disparaging both the author and her readership that it should not have happened.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
I am into the Potter series & never to review them as they are a special matter to my heart. I shall not enjoy a novel by Rowling for adults. I don't know why!
Vladimir: (sententious.) To every man his little cross. (He sighs.) Till he dies. (Afterthought.) And is forgotten.
I can't believe that anyone over the age of eleven would read HP , with the exception of children's book reviewers, because as far as literature is concerned, the phrase reductio ad absurdum comes to mind. The same goes for films about Batman. When I was about nine-years-old, a friend and I fantasised about being Batman and Robin, but obviously one grows out of such things: or does one? Now I see Batman is not a kid's entertainment but, with a bit of extra violence thrown in and presumably, some sex and a few computer graphics, he is suddenly 'adult' entertainment. Barnum was wrong; there isn't one born every minute, there are dozens.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Mostly because the Harry Potter books got more graphic as they went on. People get tortured violently, expletives are used(In book 7, a character gave his brother a middle finger), very expletive references to sex. It wasn't just to pander to older readers either. Rowling planned that from the beginning. I mean, its a series about a kid who is destined to face off against a wizard Hitler who killed thousands of innocents when he was alive, including the main character's parents. Thing was going to get violent eventually.
I'm not trying to defend the quality of the books, but it was clear the series was getting to get too dark for kids later on.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
"You understand well enough what slavery is, but freedom you have never experienced, so you do not know if it tastes sweet or bitter. If you ever did come to experience it, you would advise us to fight for it not with spears only, but with axes too." - Herodotus
https://consolationofreading.wordpress.com/ - my book blog!
Feed the Hungry!
Have you read Mao? He was regarded as a literary genius by the early 30s primarily for his work on Guerrilla warfare. Much of his reception and success rested on his literary and artistic prowess.
I do not know how much comes through in translation, but he wasn't exactly stupid.
As for required reading and whatnot, how much of Rowling's sales do you attribute to advertising, rather formal or informal? If advertising did not work, nobody would do it.
Case and point this book here - the propaganda of the text basically generated its sales - the book from what I gather would have remained unpublished or unread had it not been for the fuel of her advertisement.
Hao Ran would not have been the biggest author of the 70s if it weren't for state backing. Rowling not the biggest of the late 90s early 2000s if not for corporate backing. Do not get delusions that somehow this has something to do with their excellence as authors.
I would place The Quotations of Chairman Mao more with the required reading in a literature class, like Eliot's The Wasteland. It is clear why these are read--for survival, not enjoyment. Neither of these examples, in my view, are great literature.
As opposed to Laura Day's books, no doubt.
Personally, I have read The Wasteland dozens of times... and I surely wouldn't have wasted my time if I didn't gain a good deal of pleasure from the experience. Indeed, I would count The Wasteland among the few dozen books that have had the greatest impact on me.
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
You beat me to it with this comment, Pierre.
It's an achievement, yes, but one must consider what kind of an achievement that is--if you're asserting that any piece of art that gains huge success in a free market is somehow a substantial measure of worth, I guess we can put the "good art" label on Lady Gaga, Kesha, and Justin Bieber. They've all undoubtedly had quite astounding achievements culturally, monetarily, and business-wise, but artistically? Arguable at best.
Yes, but let's keep in mind that you find any film made after WWII to be overly stimulative.
I don't buy into this whole "she had it all planned out" crap. I read the first book and seen some of the movies, and I honestly believe she was just making it up as she goes. There're so many things that just come out of nowhere (not to mention magic to help get out of tricky potholes she'd write herself into) and complete irrelevancies to the larger story (I believe I remember a friend of mine telling my about a plot deviation about Hermione wanting equal rights for trolls that worked at Hogwarts or something--wtf?). That isn't anything unique to long fantasy series. The Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire, hell, even Gerofe Lucas claimed to have all 6 episodes of Star Wars planned out before even making A New Hope, and I don't buy that for a second.
As to evaluating the quality of children's literature, that seems like something very hard for an adult reader (or, at least, this adult reader) to do. How can I judge how good a book for children is? I'm not a child anymore. I can say what children's boom I've enjoyed, sure, but I don't know if that says anything about the quality of the book as it pertains to its genre.
It makes no difference. The bulk of potter readers were adults and the later books were marketed for young adults. This children's lit excuse makes no sense.