tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post1880976091904043371..comments2024-03-28T18:26:13.768-05:00Comments on Althouse: "In the days when success in life had depended on marriage, and marriage had depended on money, novelists had a subject to write about."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66161201444832052782013-11-18T20:19:50.619-06:002013-11-18T20:19:50.619-06:00Eugenides is a gifted writer. I didn't really...Eugenides is a gifted writer. I didn't really get The Virgin Suicides, but I read it with interest. I liked Middlesex very much. <br /><br />The Marriage Plot didn't work for me. It was clear from the get-go that the young woman would succeed and the young men would not. An understandable theme these days, but not interesting. Certainly not suspenseful.<br /><br />In another trend, I have noticed that young literary characters who attended Brown University are way more screwed up than those who attended other colleges. I would advise parents of high-school students to proceed with caution.MD Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00675532021705182467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13018846210476092012013-11-18T20:19:25.888-06:002013-11-18T20:19:25.888-06:00Eugenides is a gifted writer. I didn't really...Eugenides is a gifted writer. I didn't really get The Virgin Suicides, but I read it with interest. I liked Middlesex very much. <br /><br />The Marriage Plot didn't work for me. It was clear from the get-go that the young woman would succeed and the young men would not. An understandable theme these days, but not interesting. Certainly not suspenseful.<br /><br />In another trend, I have noticed that young literary characters who attended Brown University are way more screwed up than those who attended other colleges. I would advise parents of high-school students to proceed with caution.MD Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00675532021705182467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-75653321024973497372013-11-17T08:16:11.818-06:002013-11-17T08:16:11.818-06:00Why can't the wife divorce her husband? Becaus...Why can't the wife divorce her husband? Because she's got a pre-existing condition and she's on his group health care plan.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCw_UoRhTUk<br /><br />A good novelist could make that sound tragic: <br /><br />"Sweetie,I've got something to tell you. I've been seeing another man. He's got Blue Cross."sinz52https://www.blogger.com/profile/09870817085229690168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-18130306905088444472013-11-16T18:19:04.569-06:002013-11-16T18:19:04.569-06:00Don Quixote wished he could be a knight in a medie...Don Quixote wished he could be a knight in a medieval romance. Cervantes got two novels out of that.<br /><br />Emma Bovary is Don Quixote. Anna Karenina is Don Quixote. You could even retell Emma's story or Anna's story so that they're not married, and not even dating anyone. Emma just falls in love with some guy she spots at the gym. Or Anna reads Fifty Shades and writes her own fan fiction from that.Thishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02419393068620230617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-39013127045386971022013-11-16T17:10:45.908-06:002013-11-16T17:10:45.908-06:00"She can't divorce because she's a co..."She can't divorce because she's a conservative politician and fears a primary challenge! "<br /><br />Hillary is not a conservative politician.Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403113111574246294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50941163686162303212013-11-16T16:06:08.541-06:002013-11-16T16:06:08.541-06:00It has been good for tabloids<a href="https://twitter.com/BuzzFeed/status/401825064112230401" rel="nofollow">It has been good for tabloids</a>Lem the artificially intelligent https://www.blogger.com/profile/03569712564034666751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-47720462082172736442013-11-16T15:07:14.054-06:002013-11-16T15:07:14.054-06:00"Modern novels are boring because they still ..."Modern novels are boring because they still assume rebellion.'<br /><br />Depends on what you mean by "rebellion" - what could be more smug and self-satisfied by usual "academic" naval-gazer? Where was the "Rebellion" in "Infinite Jest"?<br /><br />Most modern novels are as "rebellious" as Bill Maher.rcoceanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17102201338319611538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-6763075097161611662013-11-16T14:55:35.802-06:002013-11-16T14:55:35.802-06:00Yep, skip the marriage, go straight to the virgin ...Yep, skip the marriage, go straight to the virgin suicide.Left Bank of the Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04494310302328322830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-16216353736154562792013-11-16T14:53:56.441-06:002013-11-16T14:53:56.441-06:00Jonathan Franzen's novels deal with marriages ...Jonathan Franzen's novels deal with marriages in an intelligent way. mcculloughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03168402889404727565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-75464322737599379942013-11-16T14:32:53.305-06:002013-11-16T14:32:53.305-06:00Modern novels are boring because they still assume...Modern novels are boring because they still assume rebellion. What if you don't want to rebel, and prefer an orderly life? My family rebelled two generations ago already and I've observed the results.Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09055468613470143350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-29112245091591977092013-11-16T13:52:51.034-06:002013-11-16T13:52:51.034-06:00They don't have THAT subject to write about an...They don't have THAT subject to write about anymore. But they have other subjects to write about. <br />Are those subjects as weighty as clssical literature though?jr565https://www.blogger.com/profile/06250384040393259866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-52783003022164401712013-11-16T13:45:02.587-06:002013-11-16T13:45:02.587-06:00As a mainstream art form the "Serious Novel&q...As a mainstream art form the "Serious Novel" died years ago. Probably the last author to have any real impact on the average college education person was Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" and for that he was mercilessly attacked by Mailer, Cheever, and Who's it,<br /><br />Even SF is turning into Chick Lit. Mystery/Crime seems to the be the only genre with some life in it.rcoceanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17102201338319611538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-57474785463901278072013-11-16T13:41:37.979-06:002013-11-16T13:41:37.979-06:00Mona Simpson wrote a modern marriage novel about S...Mona Simpson wrote a modern marriage novel about Steve Jobs - An Ordinary Guy. It annoyed me for that reason. I guess he didn't plan on getting divorced, so who he married, which blonde "won" the marriage bake-off, was Just As Important as In Victorian Times. Boring. <br /><br />Still, you get past a certain level of money and people become as obsessed with their love affairs as they ever were (John and Yoko, the Kardashians, anyone?) It's not like people were terribly faithful in Victorian times anyway.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87931635760792640272013-11-16T13:28:03.658-06:002013-11-16T13:28:03.658-06:00What about Hemingway and Fitzgerald's plots? A...What about Hemingway and Fitzgerald's plots? Aren't they mostly about people who have no rules in their own lives? Crashing into people who for one reason or another do have rules? Like Gatsby? Like The Sun Also Rises? Then, what about the plot to Casablanca, the movie. Or The Big Sleep. The more people who have no rules, the more these collisions will occur. wildswanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11975129877750876072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-56722065462754013692013-11-16T12:56:03.133-06:002013-11-16T12:56:03.133-06:00There's plenty of drama in the tech world thes...There's plenty of drama in the tech world these days, but any novelist coming from a Englit background is out of his/her league.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11205752419540502278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-85767829215519050762013-11-16T12:53:31.675-06:002013-11-16T12:53:31.675-06:00I think women who enjoy angsty musings on the mean...I think women who enjoy angsty musings on the meaning of marriage and womanhood should all marry men who see NFL football as a metaphor for life, and will tell you why and how at length.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10138276375040381842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-8262663578460760132013-11-16T12:25:05.468-06:002013-11-16T12:25:05.468-06:00She can't divorce because she's a conserva...She can't divorce because she's a conservative politician and fears a primary challenge! Deirdre Mundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14357363160387734552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-29909872587146842052013-11-16T12:11:46.389-06:002013-11-16T12:11:46.389-06:00A custody battle with remarriage is a much more in...A custody battle with remarriage is a much more interesting story than some cornball style throwing oneself under a train.<br /><br />Richard Lawrence Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01951947957345891398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-54344699654545945882013-11-16T11:42:03.606-06:002013-11-16T11:42:03.606-06:00Good grief. Writing a "marriage plot" j...Good grief. Writing a "marriage plot" just requires the protagonist to want two incompatible things -- to have her cake and eat it too. If you can't think of any examples of that in modern culture, you have no business trying to write novels. You have no insight to offer.clinthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15002827680487639155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-37551482452315528732013-11-16T11:24:19.657-06:002013-11-16T11:24:19.657-06:00There must be some good writers out there, with so...There must be some good writers out there, with something to say. A few might be appreciated after they die, the rest, not so much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-85214385732324958972013-11-16T11:23:13.592-06:002013-11-16T11:23:13.592-06:00The navel-gazing inventory of the self, the confes...The navel-gazing inventory of the self, the confessional and post-confessional style, the turn inwards to mine any material...<br /><br />...plus the balkanization of the humanities into studies departments, the chattering, nattering class often made up of 'self-aware' women...<br /><br />...plus the 'death of the novel,' and more prizes than poets and writers writing about academia...<br /><br />Who gives a shit?<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-44755315477284505872013-11-16T11:12:03.171-06:002013-11-16T11:12:03.171-06:00Writing is just sooooooooo hard these days.
Writing is just sooooooooo hard these days.<br /><br />Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-35483101676312832342013-11-16T10:58:15.663-06:002013-11-16T10:58:15.663-06:00'Sides, novels grew with the middle class. Ob...'Sides, novels grew with the middle class. Obama isn't leaving us with one.Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12623422545436294378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-86596234543341475582013-11-16T10:54:22.611-06:002013-11-16T10:54:22.611-06:00@Lance, LOL, good job.@Lance, LOL, good job.pm317https://www.blogger.com/profile/01817747111612402845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20873332773003054432013-11-16T10:49:38.397-06:002013-11-16T10:49:38.397-06:00In order to be a great novel the dilemma must be u...In order to be a great novel the dilemma must be universal. Today few can truly emphasize, and perhaps most would sneer at a woman who wouldn't divorce for religious or money reasons. Isn't not divorcing for the children the back story for a new sitcom? Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12623422545436294378noreply@blogger.com