4588686 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Is he worth reading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 (edited) Ray Bradbury didn't think so: BRADBURY From reading so much poetry every day of my life. My favorite writers have been those who’ve said things well. I used to study Eudora Welty. She has the remarkable ability to give you atmosphere, character, and motion in a single line. In one line! You must study these things to be a good writer. Welty would have a woman simply come into a room and look around. In one sweep she gave you the feel of the room, the sense of the woman’s character, and the action itself. All in twenty words. And you say, How’d she do that? What adjective? What verb? What noun? How did she select them and put them together? I was an intense student. Sometimes I’d get an old copy of Wolfe and cut out paragraphs and paste them in my story, because I couldn’t do it, you see. I was so frustrated! And then I’d retype whole sections of other people’s novels just to see how it felt coming out. Learn their rhythm. INTERVIEWER What about Proust, Joyce, Flaubert, Nabokov—writers who tend to think of literature in terms of style and form. Has that line of thought ever interested you? BRADBURY No. If people put me to sleep, they put me to sleep. God, I’ve tried to read Proust so often, and I recognize the beauty of his style, but he puts me to sleep. The same for Joyce. Joyce doesn’t have many ideas. I’m completely idea oriented, and I appreciate certain kinds of French writing and English storytelling more. I just can’t imagine being in a world and not being fascinated with what ideas are doing to us. http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury He's worth reading just to be able to say you read him. Unless you like modernist literature, then he's worth reading for his own sake. Edited August 20, 2013 by Era Might Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 If you plan on working in an old folks home as a listener to really boring, rambling crap, I suppose it's a form of training. Worse than Faulkner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Worse than Faulkner. an achievement in itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Read Malcolm Muggeridge instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Read Malcolm Muggeridge instead. There's a good debate with him on YouTube and two guys from Monty Python after the controversy over "Life of Brian." I don't know anything about Muggeridge, but he comes across as kind of stodgy and missing the point in that friendly "debate." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eowyn Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 James Joyce is an acquired taste. I could only ever get through his short stories. Meh... . Would rather read something good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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