tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post1148675169498514940..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: Detective Storybill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-62348178763297313822011-02-14T21:59:01.215-05:002011-02-14T21:59:01.215-05:00God, I sound like a dick there!
See? That's ...God, I sound like a dick there!<br /><br />See? <i>That</i>'s why I don't participate in things like this. I have enough trouble not coming off like a dick in this world.<br /><br />But, yeah, I basically do appreciate the point being made and don't disagree with it. Mostly I'm discussing it because it intrigues.Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-71421435094412534712011-02-14T10:14:28.698-05:002011-02-14T10:14:28.698-05:00I'm sure there are people like that, Neil (tho...I'm sure there are people like that, Neil (though I'm not sure Dahl was one of them -- I think he spoke about the difference between writing for children and <i>not</i> writing for children), but they're not the ones Amis is talking about. If you set out to write a children's book, you're putting restrictions on yourself. And the whole thing came up because he said people have asked him if he would ever write a children's book, which introduces intent into the matter.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-46487619710599811142011-02-13T14:49:13.106-05:002011-02-13T14:49:13.106-05:00Oddly enough because I hate getting in these kinds...Oddly enough because I hate getting in these kinds of debates... but here goes...<br /><br />First of all, who amongst us is going to write "Ulysses"? I don't think the reason I'm not writing "Ulysses" has anything to do with anything except I just can't imagine I ever would or could.<br /><br />But I get the idea of limiting oneself in principle. I don't like limiting myself either. Frankly, I can't imagine myself ever sitting down to write "children's literature" either, and I suppose that's part of it... Frankly mine are less mature, I just can't imagine I could stop myself from having naked people and beheadings in my stories, not whatever more important literary exploration of the entirety of my imagination - Or perhaps naked people and beheadings is the end of my imagination. Who knows?<br /><br />But, like I said, I'm not sure there aren't other people who write things that end up sold as "children's literature" who didn't sit down at their typewriter to create "children's literature". I'd add Roald Dahl's "children's literature" to that.<br /><br />And from that perspective I can picture I could write something that someone would say, "Hey, if you put a top on that girl in that scene you could sell it to kids" and I'd shrug and go "Um, sure."Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-87382270303224751252011-02-12T23:21:27.934-05:002011-02-12T23:21:27.934-05:00What's wrong with literary forums? The Palimps...What's wrong with literary forums? The Palimpsest is great!<br /><br />As for the rest, I couldn't really say which of those Amis was referring to, but my guess is the intentional variety, since he talks about putting limits on yourself. Which is not a bad thing to do, but he doesn't want it, and some of the children's authors who've taken offense claim that they never restrict themselves just because they're writing for children. Which I believe is a lie, because you have to restrict yourself. You can't write ULYSSES and then say "I've written a children's book."<br /><br />I'd be curious to know what other genre hounds such as yourself think about COLD WEATHER. As one of those hounds myself, I was resistent to it, but ultimately won over.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-35638412232457843082011-02-12T22:46:45.604-05:002011-02-12T22:46:45.604-05:00Two things strike me.
One. I don't think lite...Two things strike me.<br /><br />One. I don't think literary forums songs like the place for me.<br /><br />Two. Did he mean "children's literature" or something more like "intentional children's literature". I've been reading Winnie the Pooh books to the unborn, and I find it seems pretty obvious to me that A.A. Milne is telling stories that amuse him and involve anthropomorphizing stuffed animals, so they are the types of stories one associates with children, but I don't imagine him to have been limiting his own vision.<br /><br />If any of that makes any sense.<br /><br />And this movie sounds more interesting than I think I'd normally find the idea of a mumblecore movie called "Cold Weather", so you've succeeded in raising the odds of me seeing this somewhat over zero.Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-70858064446212276292011-02-12T22:06:59.834-05:002011-02-12T22:06:59.834-05:00I...hm. I do not want to give that impression. I...I...hm. I do not want to give that impression. I would say that I'd change it if I didn't think the problem was in your diseased mind, Ed.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-11721599105997686292011-02-12T20:55:20.590-05:002011-02-12T20:55:20.590-05:00I should note that I initially took "played w...I should note that I initially took "played with his nephew" as a euphemism, which made the next sentence somewhat, um, startling.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-82455660118170958432011-02-12T15:56:27.497-05:002011-02-12T15:56:27.497-05:00"I'm an uncle too; where's my movie?&..."I'm an uncle too; where's my movie?"<br /><br />Indeed.Glenn Kennyhttp://somecamerunning.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.com