"A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. It’s Entourage directed by Bergman; it’s the great 90s novel a quarter of a century too late; it’s a devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch’s, a few sizes larger."
-The Guardian
Why does it seem to be that for a work of literature to be praised by the critics, it must be "devastating"? Aren't we devastated enough already?
Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason "A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. It’s Entourage directed by Bergman; it’s the great 90s novel a quarter of a century too late; it’s a devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch’s, a few sizes larger."
-The Guardian
Why doe ...[text shortened]... ure to be praised by the critics, it must be "devastating"? Aren't we devastated enough already?
I dunno. I read mostly sci-fi just so that I can avoid being "devastated".
There is a test over at Reddit, something like, 'You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover'. It asks you to rate book covers on a scale of 1-5. This book, A Little Life, had its cover as one of the items to judge. I thought it was terrible, but those that know better squashed that opinion. 😞
JK: You must read better sci-fi than me. My books have stuff blowing up every 5 pages. 😛
Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason "A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. It’s Entourage directed by Bergman; it’s the great 90s novel a quarter of a century too late; it’s a devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch’s, a few sizes larger."
-The Guardian
Why doe ...[text shortened]... ure to be praised by the critics, it must be "devastating"? Aren't we devastated enough already?
yer lament seems to be a corollary to a pet peeve of mine...
the answering of a simple question with the extreme -
"are you hungry???"
"i'm starving..." "would you like to go to the store???"
"i would love to go to the store..."
we seem to have learned (folks in general, not all) that to obtain the best is the only thing that matters...
a rice and bean burrito???
not near good enough, it must have cheese!!!
Originally posted by Ponderable Critics have the same problem as all media people. They need attention. The more spectacular, the more attention is the straight recipe...
On a different apsect: Sometimes devstating of our prejudices has to be done, so that we can get a new clear look at a given problem.
You've put into words exactly the reasoning I was groping towards 🙂
Originally posted by Suzianne I dunno. I read mostly sci-fi just so that I can avoid being "devastated".
I used to do the same. However, there is I guess a certain appeal to heart-rending tragedies. I read today that they make us think more deeply, thus counter-intuitively increasing our happiness as we work out ways to improve our lives.
The first several/many times I read moving books, or saw opera, film or theatre tragedies, I found them spiritually nourishing experiences. But they can become a monotonous diet. Problem is, the newspapers and their readers are addicted to this mental devastation, and rain it down on us like clusterbombs. Snobbery ensures that the élites give the cold shoulder to those who don't keep up.
The utility of devastating reads
06 Sep '15 15:331 edit
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