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Posting a reply to: Re: WoGF Reading Challenge Q & A

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[QUOTE]carlajpatterson - 2013-03-03  10:18 PM

Ah!  Now I see what you mean.  I forgot what it's like to expect that kind of thing from authors!  All I ask from them, these days, is entertainment.  If I get something to agree with or admire in a book I read, that's icing on the cake.  A case in point - I really loved Orson Scott Card's science fiction writing.  Then, I read one of his essays on American politics and society from a few years ago (and why he supported the Bush administration and the war in Iraq) and I almost felt like throwing up that I'd ever liked anything he'd written.  Not because he isn't allowed to have a differing opinion from mine but because it seemed like a betrayal of the compassion and care with which his books all seemed to have been written.  So, I checked myself - after all, it's FICTION.  There is no way to know how much of what an author writes reflects his or her personal beliefs and/or actions in his or her own life.  In fact, it's almost certain that most fiction doesn't reflect their own realities very closely or why take the time to write it?  Fiction is intrinsically not reality-based and only reflects the real world obliquely.  Secondly, my interpretation of what a book means is mine, not the author's.  There's no way for me to know whether or not what I read into a book is there from anyone else's POV.  So, the long and the short of it is that I try not to find out too much about authors whose work I like in case it undermines my ability to like their work.  It's hard enough for me to find books I can stand to read past the first chapter as it is. ;)[/QUOTE]

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carlajpatterson

Posted 2013-03-03 10:18 PM (#4796 - in reply to #4427)
Subject: Re: WoGF Reading Challenge Q & A

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Posts: 38

Location: Richmond, California

Ah! Now I see what you mean. I forgot what it's like to expect that kind of thing from authors! All I ask from them, these days, is entertainment. If I get something to agree with or admire in a book I read, that's icing on the cake. A case in point - I really loved Orson Scott Card's science fiction writing. Then, I read one of his essays on American politics and society from a few years ago (and why he supported the Bush administration and the war in Iraq) and I almost felt like throwing up that I'd ever liked anything he'd written. Not because he isn't allowed to have a differing opinion from mine but because it seemed like a betrayal of the compassion and care with which his books all seemed to have been written. So, I checked myself - after all, it's FICTION. There is no way to know how much of what an author writes reflects his or her personal beliefs and/or actions in his or her own life. In fact, it's almost certain that most fiction doesn't reflect their own realities very closely or why take the time to write it? Fiction is intrinsically not reality-based and only reflects the real world obliquely. Secondly, my interpretation of what a book means is mine, not the author's. There's no way for me to know whether or not what I read into a book is there from anyone else's POV. So, the long and the short of it is that I try not to find out too much about authors whose work I like in case it undermines my ability to like their work. It's hard enough for me to find books I can stand to read past the first chapter as it is. ;)

Edited by carlajpatterson 2013-03-03 10:22 PM

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