The literature glut
Submitted by Literature Blog
Written by Michael Vass
Literature is a great art that is dying with a purpose these days. I say that because I just read an article by Shirley Dent discussing the fact that not everyone can or should be an author. And to an extent I agree with Ms. Dent.
I agree that there are far too many people self-promoting books that they have written, that honestly should be used for fireplace kindling rather than expanding the mind. Often there are books that seem pertianat to the writer and their immediate circle, that completely loses all meaning when viewed from an outsiders point of view. But then there are those that have been overlooked as well (though a far rarer group indeed).
Ms. Dent emphsizes her stance that the world should focus on great literary works. Edgar Allen Poe, Dostoevsky, and so on. But I have to wonder how she would feel about say Stephen King? And he was a mere mortal before he became the prolific writer we now see movies based on.
And that may be part of why literature is dying, as I first stated. Too many think they are the next Steven King. And they are so busy writing that they don’t take time to read. Because it is in the reading that inspiration is born, and art ensues.
Today too many are caught up in a culture of instantaneous reward. Type 500 pages and you have a book. You are an author, even if not a single soul has read a single word. Not that it matters because the youth wouldn’t care until it becomes a movie, and the ‘author’ is off onto the next great novel about their lint-picking day. There is no emphasis for the reading of books, nor the time to instruct how to write with flair and purpose.
Still that does not mean everyone should just delete the word programs off their computers (or put the typewriter back in the attic – if they have ever seen one). Because some do read, and write. Like one book I reviewed a while back.
Literary work does not all have to be the greatest classics that will stand the test of time. Because there is no way of knowing what is great until it is written, and the world has a chance to read it. Poe and so many others didn’t write to be great, they wrote and were found to be great.
Yet still, just because you wrote something does not mean it’s worth publishing. But I think the emphasis should be on the reading and development of writing. Without that, there is nothing but “Vanity publishing for proles”.
