tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post6238647936566572533..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: The Kind of Face You SLASH!!! - Day 23: Eat Good and Healthybill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-16417639414033526062020-05-08T00:37:32.777-04:002020-05-08T00:37:32.777-04:00I often object to how characters are treated, and ...I often object to how characters are treated, and am outraged. And sometimes I need to remind myself that the characters don't exist, and author didn't commit anything wrong by writing it. But other times, it depends on how the story is slanted. If it's suggested that the person deserved what they got, but I strongly disagree, than yes, I often am critical of the author's moral position. That's happened more than once, especially in cautionary tales. What do you think about Lexington? Was it suggested he got what was coming to him or not? I'm not really sure myself. From what I've found out, Dahl was describing his bitterness about the unfairness of life, and that what make it not the case.Sweet Onehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13647499714168470952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-81430778511697890032010-10-24T11:24:34.196-04:002010-10-24T11:24:34.196-04:00Brian, let me know if the biography says Dahl was ...Brian, let me know if the biography says Dahl was a vegetarian. I tried to find out last night for the post, but couldn't find anything online that confirmed it. It sure seems like it, though, after read "Pig".<br /><br />Greg - I'm always pushin' the limits! That's what I do.<br /><br />I thought Krispy Kreme was in serious financial trouble a while back, and might go under. Whatever happened there? Because I guess they're fine now.<br /><br />You should absolutely read his adult stories. He was brilliant. And anti-Semitic too, I guess, but what the hell, he didn't rape any children that I'm aware of.<br /><br />John - <br /><br /><i>In essence, criticizing them for the qualities that make them most memorable to readers, oddly enough.</i><br /><br />Yes. I really wish I'd been able to quote from the review, but the New Yorker website has a pretty tight lockdown on their archives, but I'm right about at 100% certainty that I'm remembering the reviewers issues with those two stories accurately.<br /><br />And I'm with you on all the rest of it, too, particularly that "shock" is often the territory of untalented types who give it a bad name. I never like when people brag about "shocking" the audience, because I think that implies an arrogance, and a shallowness, that speaks ill not just of the artist, but of the art. But when something is allowed to just creep up on you, like these two Dahl stories, then the impact is very powerful.<br /><br />As for those who object on moral grounds...I mean, yes, it's very possible to create immoral art. But when someone objects to something like "The Last Act" because of how a character is treated, I have to wonder if those who are so outraged are aware that the person in question isn't actually real, and that these bad things didn't really happen.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-66981713351452253552010-10-24T03:22:35.617-04:002010-10-24T03:22:35.617-04:00...I distinctly remember the reviewer singling out...<i>...I distinctly remember the reviewer singling out two of Dahl's stories as going too far, being simply too cruel. Not badly written in any way, but nasty and morally off-putting.</i><br /><br />In essence, criticizing them for the qualities that make them most memorable to readers, oddly enough.<br /><br />I suspect the main reason shock "for its own sake" (as we are often told) has a bad name is that it's usually associated with the work of, to put it kindly, less than utterly brilliant writers. Writers, indeed, who almost always pride themselves on having a reputation for that kind of thing. And who generally don't even do <i>that much</i> all that well.<br /><br />And then, of course, there's an awful lot of whiny oversensitive types out there who seem to take a perverse delight in striving to register their ABSOLUTE DISGUST at such BLATANTLY IMMORAL material louder and more emphatically than the rest of their equally SHOCKED, STUNNED, AND DOWNRIGHT SICKENED comrades in the quest for taste, politeness, and decency in public discourse.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-35244547313125601572010-10-23T23:35:25.911-04:002010-10-23T23:35:25.911-04:00I don't agree with Brian. Yes, it's a coo...I don't agree with Brian. Yes, it's a cool post but it's <i>too</i> cool. You've simply gone too far in your coolness with this one Ryan!<br /><br /><i>I suppose now my question to that New Yorker reviewer would be "What makes it too cruel</i>?<br /><br />I'd ask how he got his job and if he could get me one. That's what I'd ask him. Oh yeah, also, if he knew where the nearest Krispy Kreme was. I'd ask him that too. <br /><br />I've read some Dahl, those children stories you haven't read yet and loved them. I've never even given a thought to reading his other works, just never crossed my mind. Don't really know why to be honest but I'd like to check these two out.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-14586330114776527182010-10-23T22:02:30.075-04:002010-10-23T22:02:30.075-04:00Cool post. I just picked up the new bio about him ...Cool post. I just picked up the new bio about him last week, and I'm eager to read it.Brian Doanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17903729233401672600noreply@blogger.com