How many ...?

[Pike Bishop]

(is that a 'how many' question? )
I haven't read the latter one(s), but of course they're literature - they aren't music or paintings, are they?

How many favourite film directors do you have?

Actually, no they're not; they're fiction. If all fiction was literature--artistic, literary writing--then Romance novels would be studied as much in world universities as Shakespeare, Proust, and Dante. So, are those texts just fiction or are they literature?

My ten favorite directors:

1. Scorsese
2. Hitchcock
3. Ford
4. Spielberg
5. Bergman
6. P.T. Anderson
7. Tarantino
8. Kurosawa
9. Chaplin
10. Ridley Scott

I've read Lord of the Rings once.

How many of the Beatles albums are masterpieces, and what are they (in order)?

[North Star]

Actually, no they're not; they're fiction. If all fiction was literature--artistic, literary writing--then Romance novels would be studied as much in world universities as Shakespeare, Proust, and Dante. So, are those texts just fiction or are they literature?

They're not Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Ovid, or Homer. I suppose LotR might be on the brink of literary fiction.
Aren't Romance novels, with a capital 'R', just novels written in Romance languages though - as opposed to romance novels?

How many of the Beatles albums are masterpieces, and what are they (in order)?[/QUOTE]
Chronological order is the best I can do.
1. Help
2. Rubber Soul
3. Sgt Pepper
4. The White Album
5. Abbey Road

How many roads must a man walk before you can call him a man?

[bounty]

I think that's a narrow definition of literature I suspect many, if not most, of us wouldn't subscribe to.

I don't know---can we ask bob Dylan!

how many movie scenes (and which ones) have made you cry?

[Pike Bishop]

They're not Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Ovid, or Homer. I suppose LotR might be on the brink of literary fiction.
Aren't Romance novels, with a capital 'R', just novels written in Romance languages though - as opposed to romance novels?

You're absolutely right. I would have been damning Jane Eyre, Wieland, and Middlemarch (Romance/Victorian) to the Barbara Cartland heap.

And no Revolver? You're an absolute heathen...

This is a bit trite, but one road as a child, one road as an adult husband and father, and one as a sage grandfather. I sound like the sphinx.

How many Film Noirs are masterpieces and which ones?

[Pompey Bum]

1. Sgt. Pepper
2. Revolver
3. Abbey Road
4. The Beatles ("The White Album")

And in that order.

How many times have you lost weight (between 20 and 50+ pounds) only to put it right back on?

[Pike Bishop]

I think that's a narrow definition of literature I suspect many, if not most, of us wouldn't subscribe to.

It's not a narrow description, but it is open-ended. This is a quick thread; I'm not going to write an aesthetic essay on the subject. However, what would be your criticism of it and why?

Two: The death scene in Old Yeller and the final scene in Her.

How many Film Noirs are masterpieces and why are they masterpieces?

[bounty]

the generic definition of literature I am going by simply refers to written works valued for their expression and form. I would place "fiction" as a sub category of literature, which implies that "non fiction" can qualify as literature also. to exclude something like lotr as literature speaks then to a judgment as to the quality of the work (it doesn't rise to the level of dante), as opposed to the nature of it (its still a written work valued for its expression, at least by some). if there is a definition other than that, its slightly esoteric and given that---if it follows then that there is a definition that restricts what counts as literature, it would be more "narrow" on its face.

[bounty]

from pompey:

How many times have you lost weight (between 20 and 50+ pounds) only to put it right back on?

I was a wrestler and my senior year in high school lost about 20 lbs to compete in a particular weight class...and of course yes, put it right back on...smiles...but I know that's not the spirit of the question youre asking.

from pike:

How many Film Noirs are masterpieces and why are they masterpieces?

I have to confess, ive not seen any. maybe you can ask that one again to get more interesting answers.

id like to ask mine again: how many scenes in movies have made you cry?

[Lykren]

Like, none since I was 8 or so. Before that, I can't remember.

How many funerals have you been to?

[Pike Bishop]

the generic definition of literature I am going by simply refers to written works valued for their expression and form. I would place "fiction" as a sub category of literature, which implies that "non fiction" can qualify as literature also. to exclude something like lotr as literature speaks then to a judgment as to the quality of the work (it doesn't rise to the level of dante), as opposed to the nature of it (its still a written work valued for its expression, at least by some). if there is a definition other than that, its slightly esoteric and given that---if it follows then that there is a definition that restricts what counts as literature, it would be more "narrow" on its face.

There's not much of a difference between "artistic, literary" writing and "works valued for their expression and form." So, your definition isn't very different from mine. Works valued for their expression and form tend to be artistic and literary in their expression, although some realist writers and literary genre writers aren't particularly literary in their writing; their creative imaginings and structures compensate for that lack. However, just being valued for it's expression isn't enough, or else Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey would qualify...and they're not literature. And while I would never base my judgment on whether a work rises to the quality of Dante, quality is a factor, as it is in all art. Otherwise, using your broader description, One Direction and Justin Bieber's performances would be art because many people valued the expression.

So, my definition isn't narrow; it's accurate. And LOTR is not literature because there is nothing particularly artistic about the language, the structuring of the plot, or the innovation of the narrative. High quality fiction?...yes. Literature?...no. However, if you're willing to accept Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey as literature, and One Direction and Justin Bieber as art, then at least your overly-broad definition of literature is consistent.

I've been to three funerals...knock on wood.


How many movies are truly terrifying?...and which ones?

[Pompey Bum]

Five. I hated them all and generally don't attend funerals. (I have no intention of going to my own! )

How many pairs os shoes/sneakers do you own?

[North Star]

Four pairs

(Justin Bieber is music, just as 50S is literature, and neither is art, art music or literary.)
I can think of one truly terrifying movie - Mamma Mia!.

How many movies have you seen this month?

[Lykren]

*sighs* Zero. For some reason I have a really hard time watching movies now! I only watch them maybe once every few months. I used to watch one a day though.

How many campfires have you had the pleasure of enjoying? Subtract the number of miserable ones.

[bounty]

I take "literary" just to mean "concerned with literature" and when substitute the phrase for the term in what you wrote, it doesn't make sense to me.

"Works valued for their expression and form tend to be artistic and literary in their expression, although some realist writers and literary genre writers aren't particularly literary in their writing..."

works valued for their expression and form tend to be artistic and concerned with literature in their expression, although some realist writers and concerned with literature genre writers aren't particularly concerned with literature in their writing...

how are you meaning the term "literary?"

anyway---what do you say we turn this into a thread on the main forum?

[North Star]

*sighs* Zero. For some reason I have a really hard time watching movies now! I only watch them maybe once every few months. I used to watch one a day though.

How many campfires have you had the pleasure of enjoying? Subtract the number of miserable ones.

Dozens of pleasurable campfires. (My movie watching has gone down lately as well)


How many pikes have you caught?