Great Literature? Depends On Who Wrote It

I read a most interesting article on the NY Times today about value judgments we make regarding literary creations and their assigned critical ranking within the 'canon' itself.
While reading this article I was reminded of a conversation I had with a nice man on a plane on the way to California. He asked me what I was reading. 'Foucault's History of Sexuality, Vol. II' I said. 'Ah. Hmm. If you were reading science fiction I would have had something to say. Unfortunately, I have not quite made it to volume 2 of the History of Sexuality, not that I've read the first volume or anything. Foucault. Yeah, he's no Stephen King, right? Tough to read?'
'He has his moments,' I say and we exchange little else on the way to San Francisco other than the one time he kindly asked me if I wanted his peanuts since he was allergic to them. The other tidbit I could have shared with him is that I don't really 'do' science fiction but that would have been rude and unkind as he intimated that it's what he really enjoys reading.
That we make judgments about who writes certain kinds of literature is nigh factual to me. That we also, occasionally, make certain judgments about who reads what kinds of literature seems to stand to reason too.

My favorite snippet from the article would have to be the following:

'... mysteries, thrillers, romances, horror stories — is a form of literary slumming. These kinds of books are easier to read, we tend to think, and so they must be easier to write, and to the degree that they’re entertaining, they can’t possibly be “serious.”

The distinction between highbrow and lowbrow — between genre writing and literary writing — is actually fairly recent. Dickens, as we’re always being reminded, wrote mysteries and horror stories, only no one thought to call them that. Jane Austen wrote chick lit. A whiff of shamefulness probably began attaching itself to certain kinds of fiction — and to mysteries and thrillers especially — at the end of the 19th century, with the rise of the “penny dreadful,” or cheaply printed serial. The market and public appetite for this stuff became even larger in the early years of the 20th century with the tremendous growth of pulp magazines, which specialized in the genres and eventually even added a new one: science fiction.'

When thinking of the literary greats some of us tend to think of such seemingly serious authors as Dickens and Dostoevsky forgetting that many of them also wrote other than stupendously critical pieces. At times they wrote to support their social habits and vices. Thankfully, other times they wrote for the sake of writing.

Definitely the best thing I read today. Thanks, Charles McGrath.
graph per ny times

Making it Out of the Conventional Scene

Awhile back I contributed a blog on the meaning of the word 'scene.' I was prompted to do so after frequent discussions with Liam on the subject. Checking out the scene or being in the scene reveals much not just about what goes on around artists but also how they concretely influence their physical environment.
Just what is it about artists wanting to reconvene in a setting with other artists? Most artists tend to say that it's the creative energy among other creatives that encourages them to work more on their respective craft.
So, the scene ends up determining much in the life of an artist. It makes an impact on where one chooses to live, which places to frequent locally, which businesses to support and so forth. The scene comes with a healthy dollar sign attached to it and, let's face it, when the bottom dollar makes an appearance, things have more than just an abstract meaning.
However, when the 'scene' gets bigger than the art it is supposed to support, it becomes problematic and nothing more than a hub of narcissism and self-sabotage. The scene should help inspire the artist to not take over the creative life of one, supposedly. And it is regarding this very idea that I truly enjoyed this most interesting piece today. It's an interview from the AV Club (AVC) with Jack White (JW) and Brendan Bensen (BB) of The Raconteurs. The Raconteurs' Myspace page is here.
Here are some gripping bits from the interview:

JW: I'm extremely anti-hipster now, and I really hate the thought of it, being surrounding by them, and Nashville definitely is not in that neighborhood of their relation to music. In Nashville, those people want to sell songs, and they want to make hit records, and I don't see anything wrong with that. I'm so tired of playing the cool game with all those people, and just trying to go and have lunch and having to play that cool game with everybody, about what you're supposed to do, what's cool and what's not.... It's not healthy to write music that way, and I'd rather be in a town where they want to write hits.

BB: That's just not a nurturing environment. As an artist, I think it's really important to surround yourself with other artists—

JW: In Nashville, self-sabotage is not on the menu, and in hipster culture, self-sabotage is definitely one of the entrées.

JL: And that stuff is a virus, too—it's easy to hate something.

AVC: Did the adverse recording conditions affect Broken Boy Soldiers?

BB: Very much.

JW: Every album I've done pretty much has been not in a pleasant, quote-unquote, environment—it's freezing cold, or it was somebody's house with not-that-great equipment. It's always something that spurs on to get the job done. At ToeRag, we did Elephant—you couldn't even stand up, and it was freezing cold. And this one, blistering hot. We had to turn the fans off between takes to record. [Laughs.]

BB: There's something about working in adverse conditions. It keeps it interesting. I always notice if I ever sit down with a pen and piece of paper and a guitar, and I have a beverage and an ashtray and I'm comfortable on the couch, I fall asleep.

Uptight and Classy Is In, Way In

What could fashion be revealing about the psychology of our time? I looked at some samples from Prada, Marc Jacobs, and Louis Vuitton and I detected a fundamental similarity between them. They all seem interested in more contained presentations, straight lines, and calmer form.
As Sam Shahid, an art director, noted when asked about the current trends in fashion,
“Even in photography, everything we’re seeing has a classicism about it.... Things are timeless right now, or you want them to be.”

Michael Kors, a designer whose collection is also sporting more balanced and quieter choices, observes: “...That moment resonates with a lot of people and how they want to live. There is not a minidress to be found, not a platform shoe in sight. And ‘suit’ is not going to be a dirty word.”

The Times contributor, Ruth La ferls points out further,

'Designers seem intent on returning to old-fashioned civilities just the same. Some view the resurrection of a more formally controlled aesthetic as a rebuke to young Hollywood’s disheveled style. Thakoon Panichgul, who will show a collection of body-skimming dresses with subtle ’60s details, maintains that such looks are timely. “There is an energy about being proper,” he said. “It’s not about wholesomeness, it’s about respectability, about having manners again.”
That concept has an unexpected appeal to the young. “So many young women relish the idea of looking turned out,” Mr. Kors said. “It is the opposite of trying so hard to look undone” — an attitude that, as he argued, women in their 20s are beginning to find stale.'

An interesting piece on today's NY Times. Read full text here.
graph per ny times

Toronto’s Creative Capitalism and the Rise of Richard Florida

I read and reference Richard Florida's blog Creative Classroom quite often. I consider him an important contemporary voice. His insight into urban creative energies, urban development, gender, creativity and the arts, and capitalism at large is both informative and appealing. He speaks to one's reason and creative impulse, and that is what marks him as a unique voice. To me, at least.

His work on the 'creatives' and the 'creative class' has informed many of my current attitudes and opinions. Ever since I saw him on the Colbert Report, I am happy to say I am a fan. He is smart, sees the city for what it is: a wonderful fusion of diverse creative impulses and energies, and last but not least, he considers rock music relevant. Ah, yes, and he is an American living, teaching, and researching in Toronto. Enough said.

While he might appear like a manufacturing artist of this so-called 'industry of cool,' he is substantial, informed, and careful. Yes, I truly enjoy reading him and recommend his writing most openly and happily.

Hence, I was pleased to read the following feature on him in the Canadian paper, The Varsity. The author, Chandler Levack, notes:
'As the information age evolves, more workers enter what Florida calls the “creative class,” pursuing careers that take more mind than muscles. The cultivation of such individuals drastically impacts the communities where they live. Witness the death of once prosperous factory cities like Cleveland and Detroit, and the birth of coastal artistic communities like Portland and Seattle. As great minds enter, rental prices rise and neighbourhoods gentrify along a scale Florida indexes according to bohemian, homosexual and diversity quotients. For lovers of a good café and interpretative performance art, this is all well and good, but Florida’s 2002 book Rise of the Creative Class caused uproar among old-school economists: becoming the poster child for promoting a talented, tolerant, atypical America.'

An interesting piece on a most interesting intellectual who seems to have focused his own creative energies on identifying and fostering those of all the other people around him. For, as Florida himself notes, “Every single human being is creative. It’s not about attracting the yuppies, the gentrifiers, the hipsters, it’s about harnessing the creative energy of every single human being, and that’s what my books are about.”
Interesting bit. Read it in its entirety here.

Liam, What's New in Music?

To a true music lover how one gets information on new music is rather important. One of the perks of living in the year 2008 is that most anything is available on the net. If one does informed research one can find all the great new music that's available out there. However, how can one learn to make informed music research? Granted, direct human feedback is a valid resource as well, but what about those without a direct connection to the music scene? How and where can a music lover make informed decisions regarding new music purchases? Is there such a thing as an informed voice out there that can guide the shopper in the virtual tune store? After all, not every person has a Liam they can rely on for music feedback.

This is a question Carrie over at NPR's Moniter Mix was asking herself too. She writes:
'Whether it was Stax, Hi, Dischord, Rough Trade, Cherry Red, or Trojan, we put our trust in music labels and made our purchases accordingly. Now that music seems to be floating on a universal plane out in the ether, and every release has the potential to be on equal footing (regardless of origin), it is easy to overlook record labels. Maybe because mainstream media keeps proclaiming their soon-to-be obsolescence.'
Carrie posts a most interesting interview with jagjaguwar as she investigates the question of label ranking. Read more here.
graph per Jade Bassix

Lego Brick turns 50 Today

Hat tip to Richard over at Creative Classroom for the tip.
Lego Brick is celebrating a pretty special birthday today. It turns 50!

Here are some Lego factoids that Richard's listing today.

• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world's 6 billion inhabitants.

• Children around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.

• More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO
bricks.

• LEGO bricks are available in 53 different colors.

• 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year.

• 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per
minute.

• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.

• Two eight-stud LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in 24
different ways.

• Three eight-stud bricks can be combined in 1,060 ways

Happy Birthday, Lego.

The Magnetic Fields' New Album Delivers

One of the things I especially enjoy about my travels to the Pacific Northwest is the opportunity to check out the music scene when my commitments are completed.
This time around, after following Carrie's recommendation over at NPR's Monitor Mix to check out the music of Ladyhawke, I did a 'close listening' of The Magnetic Fields new album Distortion.
While they are not from the Pacific Northwest, their music somehow makes good sense in that setting.
I find that those who like one project by The Magnetic Fields tend to like all of their work. And Distortion has all the elements of a solid new project. The sound is innovative, the literary references are informed, and the presentation is nigh flawless. All in all, an almost pitch-perfect effort.
So, if one enjoys identifying literary, philosophical, and pop culture references in music, catchy yet ironic chorus twists, and wise story conclusions, then Distortion will prove to be a good addition to the music library.
This 2008 release might just turn out to be one of the best albums of the year. It's substantial, literary, informed, melancholy, celebratory, and form-conscious. In sum, a well-balanced album. Whether it's a track like The Nun's Litany or Please Stop Dancing, this album will keep one wanting to play it over and over again.
Thoroughly enjoy and fully recommend.

Bill Gates for Creative Capitalism?

The Wall Street Journal features an article today on Bill Gates' call for gentler capitalism.
Gates points out, "...the idea that you encourage companies to take their innovative thinkers and think about the most needy -- even beyond the market opportunities -- that's something that appropriately ought to be done."
Read more here.

Neo-logism: Google-gänger

One of my favorite contemporary poets, Joanna Straughn over at Zeitgeistboheme, recently made me aware of her coined neo-logism "google-gänger."

Joanna points out: "I'm still trying to promote my coined neo-logism "google-ganger" for those twins that show up when your name is googled. Some people will have oodles others few or none."

I will shortly be reviewing Joanna's brilliant book of poems, Instinct.

What do you all think? Who is your google-gänger?
graph per J. Straughn

The Logic of Life

The Logic of Life by Tim Hartford tackles so-called illogical and irrational quotidian things. The main question he investigates in the book is: just how can one make sense of certain things in life?
Life, Hartford's book says, is not as insanity-filled as it might appear to be.
Life is, actually, quite logical if seen in the right context and with the right measure of lucidity.
Hartford's book is a beautifully presented picture of human life. Instead of numbers, data, and statistics, the verbally inclined economist makes his point by recounting human stories and experiences. For therein lies a fundamental understanding of our seemingly illogical existence.
An excellent read.