er, Janus I mean, via Mountainair Arts.
I do hear the credit that some give to "genre fiction" (read this Wired article by Clive Thompson on why scifi is the last bastion of philosophical writing), and further, I think it could easily be argued that what scifi is to philosophical questions, great crime fiction is to modern social and cultural issues.
I also note that many writers of so-called "quality fiction" are now dipping their toes into genre. I like it, since it shows fans come in all kinds, and it also occasionally proves that writing a ripping genre title may be harder than it looks from one's perch atop the NYRB. However, these are but exceptions proving the rule, and I had to laugh out loud at this snippet about Whitbread-winner Joan Brady:
A prize-winning novelist has won a settlement of more than £100,000 after she claimed to have become so intoxicated by fumes from a nearby shoe factory that she was reduced to writing thrillers.
The link to the Times and Guardian articles and more juicy commentary at Sarah Weinman's blog. The fantastic Guardian article disputing the ease of writing crime novels is here.
Update: In other lit'ry happenings, tonight is (Robert) Burns' Night, so grab your Scotch and haggis, poetry lovers.
Update2: See Laura's post on Brady's claims to have been misquoted. Good.
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Two Faces of Joan (?) Updated
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11 comments:
So Joan Brady successfully sued the shoemaker Conker? Did she scream out, "Got your conk" when she won the case?
Mmmm...What do you mean, Alex? I wonder.
This always reminds me of actors' feelings about TV. Back in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, mosts "serious" actors shunned TV. No longer, though--or at least, not as much. TV is seen more and more as just another venue (if that's the right word here).
Whine, whine, whine. If Bleedout--and it's forthcoming sequel--make more money than Theory of War, does she have to pay the difference to Conker?
Having read this article, I wouldn't buy anything she's written. In fact, if someone gave me something she'd written, I'd return it to the bookstore. Snobbery of any kind pisses me off.
I do feel sorry for her, and I do believe she deserves settlement money for her medical ailments if they were caused by the factory, but the "they made me stupid" idea is ridiculous. Take it from someone who knows--been there, got the brain test to prove it, can show the results on big graphs--if something makes you too stupid to write one thing, it makes you too stupid to write anything coherent. (Caveat lector: I haven't read either book, so I have no idea if either is actually coherent.)
Now, "they made me angry enough to write a thriller," that's another thing entirely. And not, at least in my opinion, necessarily a bad one.
Elaine-
As we see more high-quality series being made by cable and syndication companies (and being purchased, like Dexter, to show on the free networks) nobody thinks small screen has to equate to suckiness anymore. "It's not the venue, it's the ...." there ought to be a pithy line in there somewhere.
Laura-
I agree she's plainly implying she was impaired in her ability to be smart and deep, rather than the new stuff being a reactionary expression against this terrible new experience. Then again, I don't think I could ever get angry or dopey enough to feel like writing, say, an introspective musing on dysfunctional family dynamics within the trope of long-nursed resentments: He Who Stole My Apple Butter, 649pp. Volume I
Clare2e
"Got your conk" is what British people say if they grab your nose which is in itself a major league diss.
Just thought that winning a lawsuit against the shoemaker was a diss... oh well, weak pun, sorry
It IS a diss, but I thought you were doing a naughty letter substitution thing. Pardon my filthy mind.
"scifi is to philosophical questions, great crime fiction is to modern social and cultural issues." - AMEN to that!
And the gal who "become so intoxicated by fumes from a nearby shoe factory that she was reduced to writing thrillers." Great! Shoe factories create gumshoe writers! I think I'm moving. (Aside) Hunny! Clean out your closet!
Happy haggis to you!
Write On!
Nan
Well, in the circumstances, if you sick a pack of unscrupulous slick lawyers on someone, I suppose a letter substitution on "Got your conk" would also work.
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