tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post988963008330008410..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: First instinct of her generationD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-53051157662635410902013-05-18T07:56:51.813-04:002013-05-18T07:56:51.813-04:00I never felt any inclination towards reading Messa...I never felt any inclination towards reading Messaud until I read her "outburst." <br /><br />I wonder if this issue of being friends with or identifying with characters is the result of a laudable but misguided attempt by high school teachers to get kids to like books. When I was still teaching university English, I spent entirely too much time trying to help students get beyond questions of whether or not characters were either likable or, in the case of female characters, "strong" and therefore worth paying real attention to (but not enough attention to interrogate what "strong" means exactly, or where its value might lie.)<br /><br />If my suspicion has some merit, I have no solution to offer. But I'm grateful for authors like this challenging such silly notions about what literature is supposed to do.Colleenhttp://jamandidleness.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-60779787367013368402013-05-12T23:23:18.531-04:002013-05-12T23:23:18.531-04:00A tempest that mentioned Raskolnikov. How often do...A tempest that mentioned Raskolnikov. How often does that happen? I first read about this interview in Poets & Writers daily roundup of news and it made me want to go read Claire Messud, and then reread Crime & Punishment.Gerry Shoshenskynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-29192739029635534822013-05-09T14:37:07.180-04:002013-05-09T14:37:07.180-04:00As someone who has spent a good part of my life in...As someone who has spent a good part of my life interviewing people, I have to say that the question was spot-on BECAUSE of the response it invoked. Here you are writing about the response, and people are commenting about it. So, kudos to the interviewer who brought out Messud's wonderful ire.larry grobel www.lawrencegrobel.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-31551153090256696552013-05-09T12:52:08.347-04:002013-05-09T12:52:08.347-04:00I'm not sure that Messud considers herself a w...I'm not sure that Messud considers herself a writer of "popular fiction" or that she'd agree with your claims about the aims of "popular fiction" even if she was such a writer. Any empathetic reader can recognize the humanity of any well-written character, whether the reader can "identify with" or "share the pain" of that character. To recognize the character as human, with real concerns that matter to them, is what's important. I'd bet that Messud is a good enough writer that she found a character through whom she could explore the ideas that were of interest to her at the time, rather than merely creating a character she thought would appeal to an audience. Hence her umbrage at the question.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-68396167434295540822013-05-08T18:02:26.277-04:002013-05-08T18:02:26.277-04:00I think this is all very well, but sort of misses ...I think this is all very well, but sort of misses the point. The only relevant issue is - was there a gender-based subtext to this interview and who initiated it? <br /><br />Messud's response strikes me as strategic. Popular fiction is about creating characters that readers will identify with (whether they admit to doing so or not) rather than characters with whom the reader wishes to be friends. A character who is female, single, angry etc would strike a chord with a great many readers. Messud's outburst just confirms their hope that she doesn't just write about characters her readers can identify with: she shares their pain as well.<br /> Aonghus Fallonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09434527113873901741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-5580612293265344252013-05-05T14:02:44.814-04:002013-05-05T14:02:44.814-04:00Oops. I meant Incadenza!Oops. I meant Incadenza!George Sim Johnstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06118646718241361980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-23303656792318247052013-05-05T14:01:25.220-04:002013-05-05T14:01:25.220-04:00Actually, I would love to know the entire Cadenza ...Actually, I would love to know the entire Cadenza family in "Infinite Jest". Utterly disfunctional, yes--but endearing.<br /><br />"Slate"'s literary criticism, especially of the novel, was far more interesting a decade ago.George Sim Johnstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06118646718241361980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-77267207641999852582013-05-04T19:06:43.487-04:002013-05-04T19:06:43.487-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-35956724913623972812013-05-04T18:57:26.821-04:002013-05-04T18:57:26.821-04:00I enjoyed your perceptive analysis of Ms. Messud&#...I enjoyed your perceptive analysis of Ms. Messud's remark.<br /><br />Funny..I've encountered so many snarky/nasty comments about the novelist lately, down to gratuitous remarks about her "Cambridge" hair color/cut.<br /><br />I enjoy her fierceness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-67237602806195724502013-05-03T20:28:50.321-04:002013-05-03T20:28:50.321-04:00There's also this, which Laura Miller linked t...There's also this, which Laura Miller linked to recently, on women authors being pressured to make their female protagonists more likable:<br /><br />http://www.meredithmaran.com/index.htm<br /><br />Stories like this do set up a context in which that question easily seems, if not 'sexist,' certainly gendered, whether or not that's exactly the spirit in which Messud herself heard or <i>answered</i> the question. I too applaud her response, in any case.<br /><br />Wayne Booth talks a lot about literary friendships, but of course the ones he's interested in are with the (implied) authors. That's a whole different story, as it were!Rohannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-58008707723643368282013-05-03T14:30:06.759-04:002013-05-03T14:30:06.759-04:00I thought the purpose of fiction was to make reade...I thought the purpose of fiction was to make readers feel warm and loved, to make them comfortable with the choices they've made in life and to affirm their prejudices. To present readers with stories of the merely human variety is to break the promise a writer makes. A woman writer presenting an unlikeable protagonist in a serious novel is breaching too many contracts to list here.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-8503791421911273672013-05-03T13:43:44.322-04:002013-05-03T13:43:44.322-04:00Need I observe how badly out of step you are too, ...Need I observe how badly out of step you are too, Marly?D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-4527435730228748912013-05-03T13:39:25.292-04:002013-05-03T13:39:25.292-04:00I like the way you treat this little internet temp...I like the way you treat this little internet tempest. It feels congenial.<br /><br />To me, the joy and out-pouring abundance one feels in making a living story or poem out of words is central. To give life to sub-creation is the great goal. <br /><br />Is that stance alien to the times? It's too bad, but so be it. <br /><br /><br />marly youmanshttp://www.thepalaceat2.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com