I just read a book treating Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" series as a literary work, and in the interview in the back, Donaldson came right out and said that he wrote "Covenant" fresh out of graduate school and wanted to convince professors that fantasy could be serious literature. That didn't stop it from being popular. Thomas Covenant the character might have limited it's appeal, but not the series' literary difficulty.
Personally, I do think some writers put more effort into their books than others, purposely thinking it all out, intertwining everything together, and the more they do that, the harder the book is to read. However, some of these writers are better at making a book complicated than keeping it understandable.
Arguments like these make me wish I could read minds. THen I could tell how many people who criticize other books/genres/people are really just acting out their own insecurities. I remember when I was a teenager I had a reputation for being a brain, so I pretended I liked classical music more than I do. I do enjoy classical music, but I love British rock. I'd tell you the bands, but that would date me.
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Date: 2010-09-02 11:06 pm (UTC)Personally, I do think some writers put more effort into their books than others, purposely thinking it all out, intertwining everything together, and the more they do that, the harder the book is to read. However, some of these writers are better at making a book complicated than keeping it understandable.
Arguments like these make me wish I could read minds. THen I could tell how many people who criticize other books/genres/people are really just acting out their own insecurities. I remember when I was a teenager I had a reputation for being a brain, so I pretended I liked classical music more than I do. I do enjoy classical music, but I love British rock. I'd tell you the bands, but that would date me.