There is this cat that prowls these forums. Spiteful, chatty thing that spits names of authors to burden us with an expanded "to read" pile under the guise of "recommendations".
And like the simpleton I am, I fell for his last trap. He suggested John Gardener, author of the book Grendel. In my futile attempt to clear myself from this pitfall, I sought out his other books, many of which are books on writing.
And just like that, I bought The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers.
In it, he writes:
Before I get to the chapter focusing on such heady arguments, I'd like some feedback and compare his conclusion with yours.
Sound off.
And like the simpleton I am, I fell for his last trap. He suggested John Gardener, author of the book Grendel. In my futile attempt to clear myself from this pitfall, I sought out his other books, many of which are books on writing.
And just like that, I bought The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers.
In it, he writes:
Thus the value of great fiction, we begin to suspect, is not just that it entertains us or distracts us from our troubles, not just that it broadens our knowledge of people and places, but also that it helps us to know what we believe, reinforces those qualities that are noblest in us, leads us to feel uneasy about our faults and limitations
This is not the place to pursue that suspicion—that is, the place to work out in detail the argument that the ultimate value of fiction is its morality, though the subject is one we must return to—but it is a good place to note a few technical implications of the fact that, whatever the genre may be, fiction does its work by creating a dream in the reader’s mind.
Before I get to the chapter focusing on such heady arguments, I'd like some feedback and compare his conclusion with yours.
Sound off.