tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post1505606297567236863..comments2024-02-05T10:41:31.777-05:00Comments on I Saw Lightning Fall: Utility to BeautyLoren Eatonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-50323234808938477762010-07-29T11:55:49.083-04:002010-07-29T11:55:49.083-04:00I think that's a good point. One learns to be ...I think that's a good point. One learns to be suspicious of beauty if it too often masks vapidity. But it would be a shame to shun beauty just because of that.Tara Mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095632631554776002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-29731699447952870222009-04-07T10:38:00.000-04:002009-04-07T10:38:00.000-04:00I don't know when the American (or maybe European)...I don't know when the American (or maybe European) break began, but I can tell when it started in my life. I had these professors in school, wildly charismatic people who could make words dance for them but who were completely off their rockers, intellectually speaking. Nowadays, I want things to be beautiful, but I always scrutinize their content really carefully. That can be a good thing or it can make you an utter stick-in-the-mud.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-7466580896419971662009-04-07T10:21:00.000-04:002009-04-07T10:21:00.000-04:00I was just thinking about this this morning. Somew...I was just thinking about this this morning. Somewhere in our culture's history, there was a divorce between utility and beauty. It's not universal, and often people bridge the gap, but it's still there and is kind of assumed. I was struck traveling in Japan lately, that in their culture, that break never happened. There seems to be such an aesthetic sensibility in everything they do. There also was never a divorce between the ritual diligence and the every day task. I'm still trying to put my finger on some things here, so I'll leave it at that.ollwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09235752166509157510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-15128742480704525642009-03-31T12:59:00.000-04:002009-03-31T12:59:00.000-04:00Yay! (It's nice to be liked. Though not strictly n...Yay! (It's nice to be liked. Though not strictly necessary.)Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-61846831237840133152009-03-31T09:13:00.000-04:002009-03-31T09:13:00.000-04:00I came to comment, but reading the others, I don't...I came to comment, but reading the others, I don't think I have anything to add, except perhaps a hearty, "Hear hear!"ollwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09235752166509157510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-39635828541829599322009-03-29T20:31:00.000-04:002009-03-29T20:31:00.000-04:00Gee, thanks! That's really nice of you. Made my Su...Gee, thanks! That's really nice of you. Made my Sunday, it did.<BR/><BR/>I'll agree with your teachers that the short story is a challenging form. I've got a couple I'm trying to revise that are kicking my rear right now.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-15261639089456873092009-03-29T13:44:00.000-04:002009-03-29T13:44:00.000-04:00Jumped over from RCWC. This post is golden itself....Jumped over from RCWC. This post is golden itself. <BR/><BR/>@Chestertonian: The best poets guide you through the magical fog of their metaphors, the worst dump you in the misty clouds of their supposed brilliance. The mystery of poesy means that the poet can mail it in. <BR/><BR/>Every single one of my English teachers claimed the short story as the hardest, most rewarding form: thinly fleshed bones without an ounce of "rococo" narrative fat.B. Nagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07620736939701035617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-716590654989205912009-03-16T19:07:00.000-04:002009-03-16T19:07:00.000-04:00Yes, the big names often rise above the rank and f...Yes, the big names often rise above the rank and file, which encourages me. I hope the rest follow. I haven’t read much Le Guin yet or any Rothfuss (what has he written?), but I’ve seen Gaiman turn out some lovely stuff. <I>Stardust</I> has a number of absolutely elegant passages. Tolkein, as well. What’s not to like about JRR? <I>LOTR</I> is pure gold.<BR/><BR/>I like tightly edited stories, too, which is why I think I’m such a William Gibson fan. At his best, his prose is rhythmic and musical, which you can hear in his abridged reading of <I>Neuromancer</I>. (Don’t say <A HREF="http://www.bearcave.com/bookrev/neuromancer/neuromancer_audio.html" REL="nofollow">I told you where to find it</A>!)Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-13661999658556931252009-03-15T23:59:00.000-04:002009-03-15T23:59:00.000-04:00I certainly feel that, in talking with poets, ther...I certainly feel that, in talking with poets, there is something in common between their work and the more closely-edited of my obsessed-over short stories. Modern (i.e. post-Medieval) poetry is, when one comes down to it, the most compressed form of language--not only should every word be critical, but as many aspects of every word as is possible should come into play. Ideally, that should be true of prose. (At least a couple of folks have said that this is why Tolkien's works are readable--"The Council of Elrond," for instance, is essentially a long chapter of confusing backstory. But the rhythm and voice of each character is conveyed so clearly--so poetically--that what should be distancing is actually interesting and engaging.)<BR/><BR/>The only advantage poetry readers have, of course, is that they can be a bit opaque and expect their readers to read more slowly to fiction. And, of course, rhyme means something different in poetry (though, not to use one example twice, don't tell that to Tom Borombadillo). <BR/><BR/>Strangely enough, the author I think does this best in the mainstream thriller category is Tom Clancy (when he's on his game, which isn't always.) Yeah, he loves overly-detailed explanations to show off his extensive research, but he often manages to introduce a character with a half a page or more of expository dialog--and yet he can pull it off simply because he has such a sense of rhythm. <BR/><BR/>But don't sell the sword-singers short! Ursula K. LeGuinn, Neil Gaiman, and most recently Patrick Rothfuss use a clever manipulation of the sound and patterns of language to rather devastating effect, when they want to.Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-31845231134755469492009-03-15T14:40:00.000-04:002009-03-15T14:40:00.000-04:00Thanks! I particularly love Browning's "Porphyria'...Thanks! I particularly love Browning's "Porphyria's Lover." Actually, I love most everything by Browning.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-48078023869400329592009-03-15T12:24:00.000-04:002009-03-15T12:24:00.000-04:00Thank you for this. I need to be reminded to read ...Thank you for this. I need to be reminded to read poetry more often. And I love the three poems you cited.Ana S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16092495983972185943noreply@blogger.com