tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post7158374094210925448..comments2023-09-15T01:33:18.857-07:00Comments on Humble Musings of a Literary Kind: Authorial Intent: Hardy, Steinbeck and the Gauntlet of Social Critique Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-48709543048061287312013-01-05T05:50:11.413-08:002013-01-05T05:50:11.413-08:00Don, thank you from the depths of my writing self ...Don, thank you from the depths of my writing self - your encouragement is a boon indeed, and appreciated more than I can adequately express. I am quite simply wanting, above all, to write a book of which I am myself proud. But I want to delve into the depths of things, I want to viscerally (I do love that word!) comprehend a time/an era as much as I am able and then I want to write the feeling, the essence of it - but I want to do so in such a way that the novel is a forward-moving, plot-driven, character-imbued thrilling one...I want to introduce readers to an historical place that they might know little about - and I want to intrigue them with it. But most of all I want to be proud of the end manuscript - regardless of its final reception I simply want to feel that it is the best book that I could write at that given point in time. Does that make sense? Thank you again for visiting and for your wonderful contribution. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-51105160635694636722013-01-05T05:43:48.419-08:002013-01-05T05:43:48.419-08:00Thank you Sarah - I will do my best! Your visit to...Thank you Sarah - I will do my best! Your visit to my humble musings fireside is greatly appreciated.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-14562370409254072512013-01-05T05:34:33.521-08:002013-01-05T05:34:33.521-08:00PJ, You are inspiring to say the least. Which sta...PJ, You are inspiring to say the least. Which star are you reaching for? I think it is already in your grasp, but maybe you knew that already from others telling you this over and over.<br /><br />When I begin the examination of a novel, and I slowly slip between its pages; I am either swiftly drawn in, irresistibly wondering what will be unearthed or revealed next, or I am immediately repelled by some senseless out of place vulgarity, while scoffed at by others who could read my intellect and heart. Each reader has their own patterns of living, and thoughts that guide them; sometimes propelling them in their consumption of literature and their varied choices regarding the same. What some would call a good read, others might call trash and contemplate burning it, if only in their minds. There are readers at both ends of a pendulum that is swinging, and at every point along its way. So the broad expanse of people here opens doors in all directions and their tastes vary throughout the generations.<br /><br />I enjoy the literary quality of your writing P.J., and such expansions of good word usage becomes a magnet to my mind, and at times I wonder why, except it draws me higher in my own reach for a finer intellect of speaking, and more *voluminous characterizations in my own writings. You've opened to me a new ocean of thought across that great expanse of the mind, and even to the depths I am curiously and delightfully drawn. So much now awaits us all in our readings.<br /><br />*voluminous |vəˈlo͞omənəs|<br />adjective<br />occupying or containing much space; large in volume, in particular:<br />• (of clothing or drapery) loose and ample.<br />• (of writing) very lengthy and full.<br />• (of a writer) producing many books.<br /><br />Where eagles fly, <br />Don (Greywolf) Fordgrassroots08https://www.blogger.com/profile/03060014053986043056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-82006468333940272692013-01-04T19:27:47.331-08:002013-01-04T19:27:47.331-08:00I can almost taste San Francisco the way you write...I can almost taste San Francisco the way you write it, PJ - hurry up and write it so that I can savor it all!Sarah Dornnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-13789917602593090072013-01-04T19:04:18.666-08:002013-01-04T19:04:18.666-08:00Thank you Blackhorse, for your visit and your insi...Thank you Blackhorse, for your visit and your insightful words - I will endeavor to do them justice! Happy New Year to you also dear friend!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-43790408469514276182013-01-04T12:01:15.088-08:002013-01-04T12:01:15.088-08:00Truth for truths sake can be an uncomfortable aren...Truth for truths sake can be an uncomfortable arena. Having said that PJ, you are well equipped and ready for that task.<br /><br />I think with Steinbeck he didn't really care what other's thought of him and so felt a freedon, if you will, to be more at risk than others during that time period. Perhaps its easier to be brave in one's writing when the outcome is irrelevant to the writer.<br /><br />In any event I know you will bring out all the characters and dress them in truth. Happy New Year dear sage.Blackhorsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13907741147289431003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-39780370918699893602013-01-04T09:42:45.783-08:002013-01-04T09:42:45.783-08:00 Yes - often I think that characterizes the litera... Yes - often I think that characterizes the literary social critic - they are often ahead of their time and acutely penetrating in their analysis of social mores....yes I will be writing, as you say, an utterly different kind of novel - but I found the point of authorial intent an interesting one - the intention to deliberately take a perceived reality and fashion it into a statement within a narrative that the writer is well aware will cause social ripples. It is not that I intend that myself - but in examining this particular period of American history there are unpalatable realities which will be threaded within the work - not that they necessarily paint such a rosy picture - but like the accolades Steinbeck received when he got the nobel prize for literature - I would endeavor to depict a truth, to try to develop an instinct for what was quintessentially American (seems incongruous to apply such label to a conglomeration of immigrants that inhabited SF at this time) whether nasty or uplifting...and there was a great deal that was fairly nasty. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156605759733149704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925449466467205516.post-70680888855506235352013-01-04T08:12:58.704-08:002013-01-04T08:12:58.704-08:00Dear PJ,
The artist can wear so many hats at once...Dear PJ,<br /><br />The artist can wear so many hats at once: messenger, clown, muse, sage; perhaps the most controversial role of the intellectual artist is that of the "social critic." <br /><br />Unfortunately for Hardy, he tried to be a social critic in a time of "art for art's sake" of the Victorian or Romantic era, something that was simply unheard of and not well received, not to mention the abrupt sexual content in his material (that is not to say that a few others were not doing the same), which I believe explains the (overt) unpopular reviews of his novels in his time. Hardy was ahead of his time and set the standards for a more Bohemian art form. <br /><br />Steinbeck, on the other hand, received literary awards and the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature for voicing harsh realities of the American society during an era of Social Realism in an emerging industrial society. He was a product of his time. <br /><br />To me it is very clear why these two, very worthy authors experienced two, very different public receptions of their art.<br /><br />The voice you choose to create within the time frame you are talking about for your novel would not be "art for art's sake" of the Victorian or Romantic era, but rather something closer to Social Realism of an emerging industrial society. However, you are writing from the perspective of a twenty-first century narrative, which gives you the benefit of a century of research, social/political/historical analysis, technological advantage, the blessing of your innate intellectual spin, and plenty of creative license as a time traveler to envisage this vista you call California calling. Shari LeKanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05764921433989389867noreply@blogger.com