Dude, thanks for writing this. I was on board with the piece until he got to actually talking about the literature...and then I was like, isn't "resigned to preventable atrocities" pretty much the fundamental basis of life as an ordinary American these days? Obviously that's not a good thing, but it's true, and you can't just go around flogging your characters to constantly engage in class struggle if you want to make art that feels true right? Thanks for expanding on this idea more articulately than I could.
Also this whole problem seems to stem from the careerist bent of many contemporary literary fiction writers. Like, does anyone write fiction for a reason besides making it in the big time anymore? Can we write for other reasons than to be pulped through the publishing mill?
Thanks for the feedback. I've been thinking about the underlying dynamics of these kinds of battles, which I never quite understood until I placed them into a religious framing - at which point the psychology of it clicked.
I think the reason these pieces get made is pretty simple: clout and attention (for writers, attention is the raw material that gets converted into money some point later on). Denunciation is consistently a pathway to increasing your personal status, which has always been the case.
Extremely well said. If voices like yours went mainstream, we would (in 5-10 years maybe) have such a better literature on the shelves and a richer culture overall.
quite costly? You need the publisher to pay for it? You sound like the mainstream nerds. this indie writing shit gotta be a real hustle like the drug game; money ain't an excuse no mo.
I just discovered your blog. Thank you. It's refreshing to see someone discuss a high level topic like this and not feel the need to provide cheap and easy answers. The world is a mess but I see a lot of hope in the Iron Age crowd and in decentralizing cultural power- away from institutions and back to people.
I'll be honest: with all due respect, your style (here) is overly contrived slop and there's zero original thought here (nothing personal; you do seem like a harmless dude).
With the pleasantries out of the way, a few genuine questions:
1. If God is dead from where do you derive the authority to deem things as "sin", "bad", or "morally corrupted"?
2. Boyle considers it "depressingly dumb" to consider biology an explanatory factor for the differences in intelligence across the races, thoughts?
3. If Boyle's article had been about communist (or communist-adjacent) aesthetics/artists, how would your response have been different?
Dude, thanks for writing this. I was on board with the piece until he got to actually talking about the literature...and then I was like, isn't "resigned to preventable atrocities" pretty much the fundamental basis of life as an ordinary American these days? Obviously that's not a good thing, but it's true, and you can't just go around flogging your characters to constantly engage in class struggle if you want to make art that feels true right? Thanks for expanding on this idea more articulately than I could.
Also this whole problem seems to stem from the careerist bent of many contemporary literary fiction writers. Like, does anyone write fiction for a reason besides making it in the big time anymore? Can we write for other reasons than to be pulped through the publishing mill?
Thanks for the feedback. I've been thinking about the underlying dynamics of these kinds of battles, which I never quite understood until I placed them into a religious framing - at which point the psychology of it clicked.
I think the reason these pieces get made is pretty simple: clout and attention (for writers, attention is the raw material that gets converted into money some point later on). Denunciation is consistently a pathway to increasing your personal status, which has always been the case.
Extremely well said. If voices like yours went mainstream, we would (in 5-10 years maybe) have such a better literature on the shelves and a richer culture overall.
Thanks!
There hasn’t been a cultural avant-guarde since the 1950s, as a technical matter… in a postmodern world, one cannot manufacture an avant-guarde…
Is there an audio version of your novel so I can listen to it? If you really about writing fiction, you would step into the ring and battle.
https://flashstyle.substack.com/
It’s a good question. I’m thinking of recording an audiobook version but it’s quite costly
quite costly? You need the publisher to pay for it? You sound like the mainstream nerds. this indie writing shit gotta be a real hustle like the drug game; money ain't an excuse no mo.
I just discovered your blog. Thank you. It's refreshing to see someone discuss a high level topic like this and not feel the need to provide cheap and easy answers. The world is a mess but I see a lot of hope in the Iron Age crowd and in decentralizing cultural power- away from institutions and back to people.
Thanks!
I'll be honest: with all due respect, your style (here) is overly contrived slop and there's zero original thought here (nothing personal; you do seem like a harmless dude).
With the pleasantries out of the way, a few genuine questions:
1. If God is dead from where do you derive the authority to deem things as "sin", "bad", or "morally corrupted"?
2. Boyle considers it "depressingly dumb" to consider biology an explanatory factor for the differences in intelligence across the races, thoughts?
3. If Boyle's article had been about communist (or communist-adjacent) aesthetics/artists, how would your response have been different?