tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post2651871049784081664..comments2023-09-11T05:46:29.728-03:00Comments on Novel Readings: Blogging, Criticism, ReviewingRohan Maitzenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-9316499320786620582008-05-28T16:51:00.000-03:002008-05-28T16:51:00.000-03:00Hi, Steven,You and I have been over this territory...Hi, Steven,<BR/><BR/>You and I have been over this territory already (a bit, anyway) at the original site. You introduced qualifications after your first comment, but even then your descriptions of the merits of 'blogging the classics' continued to be touched with contempt, or at least to sound dismissive. You were bound, then, to induce self-consciousness and provoke responses from people Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-3185057908547830932008-05-28T13:56:00.000-03:002008-05-28T13:56:00.000-03:00May I respectfully suggest that many of you are pr...May I respectfully suggest that many of you are presenting the best-case scenario (ie, the bloggers knowing what they're talking about) for the mere sake of argument? Even Wikipedia has some degree of oversight.<BR/><BR/>Beyond that (again): my point was not to suggest what Litblogs, in general, should never do. I'm disappointed to see so many self-serving misreadings of my original comment.<BR/>A. Ominoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13807400943709124236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-34273501378952269222008-05-21T03:55:00.000-03:002008-05-21T03:55:00.000-03:00I just wrote a lengthy post on my blog, responding...I just wrote a lengthy post on my blog, responding to this post, because I think it's quite an interesting topic to muse about. Here is one of the main points I made. Or perhaps it's more of a rant than a point:<BR/><BR/>I am a scientist by training and profession. When I was a senior in college I took a class called "Community Ecology and Field Botany". In this class we not only learned the Robby Virushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01206018782013858134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-36819272786968211472008-05-20T15:38:00.000-03:002008-05-20T15:38:00.000-03:00Good question. I'd be tempted to go biographical:...Good question. I'd be tempted to go biographical: her life was truly remarkable, and following her intellectual development along with her personal story helps remind us that ideas are held by complex, interesting, passionate human beings. I'm fond of Gordon Haight's biography: though it is now seen as diminishing her in some respects, it's very readable and contains a lot of material from her Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-42341648620124070082008-05-20T12:04:00.000-03:002008-05-20T12:04:00.000-03:00Thanks, Rohan, you highlighted a point I fumbled. ...Thanks, Rohan, you highlighted a point I fumbled. For most readers, the "metric tons" of criticism may as well not exist. It's not accessible - physically (only available in university libraries or journals) or because it's specialized (i.e., uses the word "problematization").<BR/><BR/>What is your sense of the quantity (and quality) of non-specialized work on George Eliot, for example? If a Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-57519546630778798692008-05-19T16:15:00.000-03:002008-05-19T16:15:00.000-03:00These are all really good comments, and it's inter...These are all really good comments, and it's interesting that they all converge on the intrinsic value of blogging for the blogger (learning through writing, entering into dialogue with other readers, etc.)--aspects of 'blogging the classics' that Steve Augustine does not seem interested in. I suppose that's fair enough if you focus on blogging, as he seems to be doing, as an alternative to Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-59693751995817886752008-05-19T00:24:00.000-03:002008-05-19T00:24:00.000-03:00I'll chime in, too. Then we'll have a quorum of bl...I'll chime in, too. Then we'll have a quorum of bloggers insulted by Steven Augustine. But I'll restrain myself to my answers to some questions I thought you raised.<BR/><BR/>First, legions of ordinary readers are curious about classics, but scared of them. I've met educated people who were scared of Eudora Welty, for pity's sake. They read good books when they stumble across them but are hungry Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-18227854313110660152008-05-18T22:53:00.000-03:002008-05-18T22:53:00.000-03:00What I'm attempting to do with my blog is only thi...What I'm attempting to do with my blog is only this: to chronicle my own personal attempt to read great literature. <BR/><BR/>If there's any novelty to what I say about these works, it comes from the fact that I'm applying what I read to my own life and my own views of the world. Like Montaigne, whose words sit atop my blog, I embrace subjectivity. My writing, then, is less criticism and more Justin Hammhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14960584050841295189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641443496612927441.post-70105655555586954122008-05-18T22:15:00.000-03:002008-05-18T22:15:00.000-03:00I didn't agree with Steve Augustine's point. He as...I didn't agree with Steve Augustine's point. He assumes that there's no point to writing about a classic unless one has read everything that has already been written about it. But surely for some classics not even the most studious grad student can do this. Why shouldn't it suffice to have familiarized oneself with some of the main reflections about a classic work? Also, his claims (in a comment praymonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09799593980838361293noreply@blogger.com