Authors who aspire to literary writing...

Thanks for that link Geronimo. That was a fucking s*hot piece of writing. I was thinking after the first half dozen paragraphs - this could turn into, or be turned into a stunning thriller. I fived it.

Desiremakesmeweak said:

Thanks for that link Geronimo. That was a fucking s*hot piece of writing. I was thinking after the first half dozen paragraphs - this could turn into, or be turned into a stunning thriller. I fived it.

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the writing transcends the subject. the visualisation the scotsman achieves as she approaches, and the protagonist's preparation beforehand is sublime. it's a fine piece of penmanship.

If people wanted art for entertainment, we only would hear Bach, Beethoven and Mozart on the radio, see opera on TV and read nothing but Shakespeare. But instead we have Justin Bieber, Stephanie Meyer and reality TV. Shows what the audience _really_ wants.

"people" covers a lot of diverse ground.

(And I do hear a lot of classical music on the radio. Guess you have to take time to turn the dials.)

Blind_Justice said:

If people wanted art for entertainment, we only would hear Bach, Beethoven and Mozart on the radio, see opera on TV and read nothing but Shakespeare. But instead we have Justin Bieber, Stephanie Meyer and reality TV. Shows what the audience _really_ wants.

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What I get a kick out of is the people who just have to tell you what they listen to or drink or read to try to prove how "intellectual" they are.

People like what they like, but when they tout it all the time it becomes, "Did you hear what I said? I said I read Shakespeare and listen only to Bach! Think highly of me!"

Low self esteem and being overly concerned in how you are perceived is a sad thing.

Personally I read old horror magazines and listen to Rob Zombie, guess I gots no class.

lovecraft68 said:

What I get a kick out of is the people who just have to tell you what they listen to or drink or read to try to prove how "intellectual" they are.

People like what they like, but when they tout it all the time it becomes, "Did you hear what I said? I said I read Shakespeare and listen only to Bach! Think highly of me!"

Low self esteem and being overly concerned in how you are perceived is a sad thing.

Personally I read old horror magazines and listen to Rob Zombie, guess I gots no class.

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I love Shakespeare, but more to watch than to read. When I'm reading Shakespeare I'm re-living performances I have seen. I like Bach but prefer other classical composers.

I read many books a week, some of them classed as trash, some classics. I love the Asterix Comics and some of Doonesbury.

I don't mind if people think I only appreciate books and music that is over 100 years old. It doesn't bother me if people think I'm an old fossil. I know I like much more recent works as well even if I struggle to appreciate some modern pop music.

I have so much more to discover in music, literature and art. I know I won't live long enough to experience all of it. I get excited when I find something new to me that I like. This week it is a Polish composer Moniuszko.

Does it have to be OR rather than AND when it comes to culture?

I listen to Rob Zombie, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, and NIN seamlessly along with Bach, Beethoven, Biber (no, NOT Bieber), The Bothy Band, and Johnny Cash among many others, and appreciate good music and good writing wherever it may appear. As I'm sure is true with most of y'all. In fact, I get an extra thrill when I run across great writing where I least expect it.

You vote with your fingers here. Sometimes very sloppy wet ones.

[Oops -- grammar bomb!! big bummer.]

I was using the biggest brush I could find to get my point across.

I'm not judging anyone here, otherwise I would have to point the finger at me first. Heavy metal is a music genre which, at least, has musicians who know to play their instruments and write songs, compared to many of today's pop artists who couldn't even write their own lyrics if their lives depended on it. Simply check the credits on an album by Iron Maiden versus the latest Katy Perry CD. If they still produce CDs, that is. Haven't checked in quite a while

Last time I checked the US top 40, there were basically three genres of music in them. Either some kind of cheaply produced rap, with people struggling to yell something to the rhythm of the song, most of the time about how many bitches and how much money that have. What happened to Public Enemy? Their songs had a message and were way more advanced thatn what today's rappers manage. Then there's a country-rock melange like Florida Georgia Line or Toby Keith. Pretty easy listening, but very samey. And then there's the bubblegum pop stuff like Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and so on. Catchy melodies sung by something remotely female-sounding. But I could be wrong, they could be using an advanced AI, because it's hard to make out the "true" voice under all the layers of cheap synths and vocal-post-processing.

This stuff sells like crazy, obviously. But it's hardly innovative, sophisticated or (to my ears) remotely pleasing. Three broad genres, with very, very few exceptions. One would think - if sophisticated stuff was in high demand, you would find it there, wouldn't you? Or are we writing types rather a minority regarding our eclectic tastes? Because as the charts show, the broad masses want that cheap, plasticky, "turn-your-brains-off" kind of stuff.

Of course it's not a binary choice between "high art" and "cheap thrills", we humans aren't desined for binary. If we were, there wouldn't be that many cases of infidelity. Either you're married or you're not. 1 or 0. But most people have a very clever set of circumstantial exceptions, like the significant other is out of town, one self is drunk and foolish enough and the person on the other side of the table is just too hot to resist. Fuck binary

oggbashan said:

I love Shakespeare, but more to watch than to read. When I'm reading Shakespeare I'm re-living performances I have seen. I like Bach but prefer other classical composers.

I read many books a week, some of them classed as trash, some classics. I love the Asterix Comics and some of Doonesbury.

I don't mind if people think I only appreciate books and music that is over 100 years old. It doesn't bother me if people think I'm an old fossil. I know I like much more recent works as well even if I struggle to appreciate some modern pop music.

I have so much more to discover in music, literature and art. I know I won't live long enough to experience all of it. I get excited when I find something new to me that I like. This week it is a Polish composer Moniuszko.

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Lovecraft is just trolling. I don't only listen to classical music. He's just being his usual insecure stalking asshole self.

My point stands. There's a huge range of variety in entertainment, including radio, out there. "People" don't prefer one thing. (I'm quoting Ogg, because he quoted the troll and otherwise I wouldn't have read LC's stupid jab.)

Woo hoo! I'm going to see Volbeat, Trivium, and Digital Summer next month.

oggbashan said:

I love Shakespeare, but more to watch than to read. When I'm reading Shakespeare I'm re-living performances I have seen. I like Bach but prefer other classical composers.

I read many books a week, some of them classed as trash, some classics. I love the Asterix Comics and some of Doonesbury.

I don't mind if people think I only appreciate books and music that is over 100 years old. It doesn't bother me if people think I'm an old fossil. I know I like much more recent works as well even if I struggle to appreciate some modern pop music.

I have so much more to discover in music, literature and art. I know I won't live long enough to experience all of it. I get excited when I find something new to me that I like. This week it is a Polish composer Moniuszko.

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I have a theory with the following premise: Novelty is distributed like prime numbers, and the popularity of anything declines in direct proportion to its fund of novelty. That is, novelty and patrons leave together.

patientlee said:

Woo hoo! I'm going to see Volbeat, Trivium, and Digital Summer next month.

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Nice! Take me with you, please. But first I need to steal some plane tickets, I don't fancy swimming across the Atlantic... But then, maybe I could make a multi-million-dollar event out of it, like the dude who jumped from a balloon in the stratosphere...