![[Logo]](/images/101ReasonsLogo.png "101 Reasons to Stop Writing")
I was interviewed recently by the good people at Jossip.com, a Gawker clone (I mean that literally) for people who read books occasionally, and pay some attention to politics. In the interview I express my opinion of people who find the blog ‘inspiring’, answer the essential question of the Great American Novel, and quote from Aristophanes. Read the full interview.
In other news, the Demotivators page has been fully updated, and now shows all the Demotivators published on the old blogspot site, dating back to December 2006. They’re all available as desktop wallpaper, in normal and widescreen sizes.
Loading ...
Where the great English novel is concerned, even a rabid Dickens bitch like myself must point out that the award is generally tied between Middlemarch and Mill on the Floss (which isn’t as good but, crucially, is quite a bit shorter).
This is a good article, though I’m a bit puzzled about the statement that there is no consensus on the ‘Great American Novel.’ Every English teacher I had said it was either Moby Dick or Huckleberry Finn.
Andy, I don’t think that a novel you can only read for a few days in the middle of one month should qualify as the Great English Novel. Certainly, any novel that can be described as ‘isn’t as good as’ doesn’t qualify, by definition. If brevity were the primary criteria, then this would be the Great American Novel.
Jefferson, that doesn’t exactly sound like consensus. English teachers say that because that’s what they were taught at school.
“Jefferson, that doesn’t exactly sound like consensus. English teachers say that because that’s what they were taught at school.”
Your right, it’s only a consensus among the few Americans that read literature as what to what literature is. I wish I wasn’t kidding about that. People in this country won’t read anything that they consider to be ‘old stuff.’ If a book isn’t designed to be like a movie then it won’t be read.
That’s exactly where Melville went wrong with Moby Dick. He wrote it more than a century before CGI was sophisticated enough to render the whale on the big screen. And he should have sent a galley to Spielberg.
Sean, you confirm a popular misconception about Spielberg. If he’s not trying for an Oscar, he’d never touch Moby Dick unless Melville wrote Ishmael as being under 15 and Queequeg as his “special big friend”. Unless he’s gunning for a Best Director Oscar, every film he does has to have that proper NAMBLA ambiance that he’s been pounding into the ground since Close Encounters.
This is good, good stuff. I admire the curmudgeonly tone, the witty byplay and the obvious erudition. It’s so refreshing to find a site that utilizes satire so effectively. This is a smart, invaluable site and if I can figure out how to do it, you’re on my blog roll, mate. And that’s an offer I make to very, very few people, believe me. Like Arnie, I’ll be back…
After Leela asked, sorry “axed”, if there was a Mrs.Queequeg on Futurama what else is left for Hollywood to do to this piece of classic American literature?
I’m personally hoping for really mild weather this year so the strike doesn’t have to end anytime soon.