Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
So what you're saying is that the mass audience has good taste only when they agree with you.
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No, I'm saying my taste
differs from the mass audience in many cases. Different does not automatically mean better.
In some cases, I may well think my taste is in fact better, but that's not a blanket statement, either. There are an awful lot of very popular books that are arguably well written that I am unlikely to read because the subject matter is not one that appeals to me. I'm simply not
interested, and I'll cheerfully take the word of someone who is that they are good.
Quote:
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This is not a dig, I think we all feel like that at times, but I think it truly highlights the point made to me earlier: people statement's of what is good taste (good writing) can only ever be their personal opinion, no matter how strongly stated. To me good writing is writing that reaches its audience; almost by definition, this means a popular book is well written whether I happen to like it or not.
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I see the point but can't agree. Let's put it this way: there are probably books that are very popular that you didn't like. By your definition, they reached their audience, and were therefore well written.
Why didn't
you like them? Were they about things of interest to you? Assuming they were the sort of books you would read in the first place, what put you off about them?
Artistic judgments are
always subjective. The best we can hope to do is define the criteria we are using when we render judgment.
______
Dennis