tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post5464474827082857519..comments2024-02-12T17:59:33.534-06:00Comments on RAZORED ZEN: Breaking All the RulesCharles Gramlichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-62182593824204280842008-07-29T15:32:00.000-05:002008-07-29T15:32:00.000-05:00The thing that sucks the most about that is all th...The thing that sucks the most about that is all the aspiring authors out there who might pick up this book and think that all those rules can be broken b/c so and so did and look he's famous! Just not a good ideaSaraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203551997160640352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-8971830551137928922008-07-29T11:05:00.000-05:002008-07-29T11:05:00.000-05:00Good thing I never got around to read any of the b...Good thing I never got around to read any of the books written by this writer. I wonder how this kind of writing translates into other languages. ;-)Merisihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16781937797213521146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-34308179876594512082008-07-28T17:18:00.000-05:002008-07-28T17:18:00.000-05:00Yeah...I figured as much. Especially after readin...Yeah...I figured as much. Especially after reading Lana's post about having the mental stamina to go through it again (referring to the movie)...because I feel the same way. Essh. Good thing I have the antennae turned on and receiving. (c:Risshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16582122840116012400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-85863391737582066422008-07-26T13:43:00.000-05:002008-07-26T13:43:00.000-05:00Laughingwolf, and answered.Stewart, I'll be intere...Laughingwolf, and answered.<BR/><BR/>Stewart, I'll be interested in your take on "Show don't tell."<BR/><BR/>Sam, that was a funny quote. I've got to keep it handy.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-10392646631982446672008-07-26T12:00:00.000-05:002008-07-26T12:00:00.000-05:00It's the old 'to each his own' in book taste. I'm ...It's the old 'to each his own' in book taste. <BR/>I'm still laughing about what Angie said was the definition of literary VS genre fiction according to MZB, that is funny.<BR/>Personally, I read for pleasure or in order to learn something, so a book that bores me or doesn't have a character I like, (I loved Suskine's writing, but I hated his book Perfume, for example), is a waste of time for me.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05943062466398436785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-1979262149614213622008-07-26T11:13:00.000-05:002008-07-26T11:13:00.000-05:00I don't know. Look at Steven King. He hasn't had a...I don't know. Look at Steven King. He hasn't had an editor do anything to his work in years. Perhaps when one is established and becomes the 300 pound gorilla, one can get away with just about anything.<BR/><BR/>As for show don't tell....I hate that phrase. I think I need to post about that on my blog.Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00895152179113722902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-82300178561465999332008-07-26T06:38:00.000-05:002008-07-26T06:38:00.000-05:00request sent....request sent....laughingwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873675614347328116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-57874881548686127812008-07-26T02:31:00.000-05:002008-07-26T02:31:00.000-05:00Erik, every character in the book is a drug addict...Erik, every character in the book is a drug addict.<BR/><BR/>Lana, I'm dreaming.<BR/><BR/>Ivan, I did not know that.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-33305869971595969152008-07-26T02:04:00.000-05:002008-07-26T02:04:00.000-05:00He don't follow, nor respect nuthin', including li...He don't follow, nor respect nuthin', including literary convention. Says all history, all religion is bunk and we all came from outer space. Kind of a latter day Charles Fort without the style.ivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662075375182633162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-89060246856200180992008-07-25T23:34:00.000-05:002008-07-25T23:34:00.000-05:00Charles; Ooh yeah...Braille, baby, BRAILLE! ;)Charles; Ooh yeah...Braille, baby, BRAILLE! ;)Lana Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06975996208260144558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-19486126785733280452008-07-25T23:11:00.000-05:002008-07-25T23:11:00.000-05:00Drug addicts, huh? That all depends on who's ...Drug addicts, huh? That all depends on who's doing the telling, I guess.<BR/><BR/>As far as long paragraphs, I will go with Proust -- beautiful, if sometimes tortured, writing.<BR/><BR/>I'd rather keep my good health, though ;->Erik Donald Francehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02332500850365598564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-53143538704433455082008-07-25T22:30:00.000-05:002008-07-25T22:30:00.000-05:00Rachel, breaking the rules can often result in som...Rachel, breaking the rules can often result in some very interesting stuff, but only if you follow the rules "most" of the time. If the rules are broken in every single case then it becomes as much of a straightjacket as is you "always" follow the rules.<BR/><BR/>J. L. Krueger. I've found in recent years that I can often get a nonfiction article out of some really bad fiction, and it helps me at times clarify my own thoughts on writing. So they can provide information, although it's a pain slogging through them.<BR/><BR/>Shauna, I think it's why I really came to detest "literary" fiction when I was in high school and was forced to read it.<BR/><BR/>Lana, you certainly have a book I'd like to read, if you know what I'm saying. ;)<BR/><BR/>Steve Malley, Irritating, for sure. I'll be looking forward to your post.<BR/><BR/>Travis, I sometimes think that's what these authors are actually saying. They want to impress you with a briliance that is so great you don't dare imagine that you can understand.<BR/><BR/>Riss, sounds like I might have already been telepathically telling you. Thanks for dropping by.<BR/><BR/>Greg Schwartz, yes, frustrating as finding out that delicious pie you're looking at is plastic.<BR/><BR/>Ivan, you know, I've never read any of his work.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-90823759548264459612008-07-25T19:45:00.000-05:002008-07-25T19:45:00.000-05:00Hee.Well, there's always Terry Pratchett.Hee.<BR/><BR/>Well, there's always Terry Pratchett.ivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662075375182633162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-76683198328851317072008-07-25T18:11:00.000-05:002008-07-25T18:11:00.000-05:00I don't know who the author is but it doesn't soun...I don't know who the author is but it doesn't sound like anyone I'd ever want to read. Stuff like that makes me frustrated too.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15344808703550376121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-91268950751640357472008-07-25T17:39:00.000-05:002008-07-25T17:39:00.000-05:00Wow. I have to say I agree with most everything t...Wow. I have to say I agree with most everything that has been said. There are the people who are clever and smart and break rules and it works...and then there's the rest of the asshats out there who are so caught up in their own angsty, arty, schmarty-ness that they get the "outhouse" effect about their own work. You sit in an outhouse long enough and it stops stinking. They break rules just to be so avant-gaarde their publisher has to publish them because they don't understand the work enough to stay no. <BR/><BR/>It's annoying. I like literary fiction and I like pushing boundaries and I like breaking rules but there has to be some really, serious thought. I think breaking rules and all that is like using habaneros (I can't spell this apparently)...it has to be done in small doses and with the right timing or you end up really sorry.<BR/><BR/>I'm really curious what book this is? It sounds like Requiem for a Dream. You could like, telepathically tell me if I'm right. I don't even know if they wrote a book or if it was just a movie but whatever. I'll go google it now.Risshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16582122840116012400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-79480010024181243032008-07-25T17:13:00.000-05:002008-07-25T17:13:00.000-05:00When I see the kinds of things in my reading that ...When I see the kinds of things in my reading that you note about this book, it makes me think I'm being told I can't sit at the smart kids' table because I don't "get" literary fiction.Travis Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06192526507760146748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-9579865161387843832008-07-25T16:55:00.000-05:002008-07-25T16:55:00.000-05:00What a coinkydink: My post tomorrow is actually ab...What a coinkydink: My post tomorrow is actually about how and why this sort of thing happens! <BR/><BR/>Meantime, in art, in music, in dance and yes, in literature, I blame an increasingly self-referential subculture of iconoclasty and decadence.<BR/><BR/>Which is a fancy way of saying some folks crawled so far up their own asses something died in there...Steve Malleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17561234111786788616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-72498903172371687342008-07-25T16:52:00.000-05:002008-07-25T16:52:00.000-05:00Charles; I said I threw my women's handbook away? ...Charles; I <I>said</I> I threw my women's handbook away? Hell, I wrote the only one worth following, as far as I'm concerned. Isn't that right...shnookums? ;) *L*Lana Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06975996208260144558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-11574635768956056862008-07-25T16:28:00.000-05:002008-07-25T16:28:00.000-05:00Experiences like yours are why I rarely read liter...Experiences like yours are why I rarely read literary fiction.Shauna Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03871768714926149114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-72557900562862438392008-07-25T15:13:00.000-05:002008-07-25T15:13:00.000-05:00I have to add that I have thrown a book away. Once...I have to add that I have thrown a book away. Once. I bought it from the library for a quarter. I was really excited about it. It was about dragons. My favorite beasts. It was so bad and I was pissed at the author that I couldn't even see myself donating it. I tore it in half and put it in the trash.Rachel V. Olivierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993034871233904955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-36453969619315968912008-07-25T12:10:00.000-05:002008-07-25T12:10:00.000-05:00You sure know how to tell a good literary horror s...You sure know how to tell a good literary horror story! And you are more literarily determined than me. Must be the teacher in you and the hardening you've gotten grading papers.<BR/><BR/>If a work of fiction doesn't grab me by the second chapter, it's gone. However, I will slug through the driest histories.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-2880955680819332912008-07-25T11:53:00.000-05:002008-07-25T11:53:00.000-05:00I'm all about breaking rules if the story is told ...I'm all about breaking rules if the story is told well. But you do too much of that experimental stuff and then you end up paying more attention to that (and how annoying and pretentious it is) than you do to the story and that's no good.Rachel V. Olivierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993034871233904955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-26337018200836215992008-07-25T11:51:00.000-05:002008-07-25T11:51:00.000-05:00Writtenwyrd, I have Ulysses on my shelves but have...Writtenwyrd, I have Ulysses on my shelves but have not had the courage to venture within. I think a lot of people let others tell them what is important instead of deciding for themselves.<BR/>I knew what sheet art you were talking about at once.<BR/><BR/>Lana, well, I'm willing to watch it with you.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-40424253831645110452008-07-25T11:46:00.001-05:002008-07-25T11:46:00.001-05:00but only as to the author/flick....but only as to the author/flick....laughingwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873675614347328116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-74122780238339863922008-07-25T11:46:00.000-05:002008-07-25T11:46:00.000-05:00Heff, it's in the women's handbook. I stole a gli...Heff, it's in the women's handbook. I stole a glimpse at the book once upon a time when my ex left it out. Man, you'd be surprised at the content. My retinas took years to fully recover. Fortunately for me, Lana threw hers away. Or at least she 'said she did.'<BR/><BR/>Christina, I think that's quite possible true. An earlier book by him was also highly acclaimed.<BR/><BR/>Laughingwolf, no not that one. email me at kainja@hotmail.com if you really want to know. But yes, schlock is schlock.<BR/><BR/>Lisa, you may be right about the big publishers pubbing it. It came out just after I graduated high school. But the author has published something recently. I didn't check to see if it uses the same formula or if it was a big or small press.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.com