Friday, Hurrah!

[charliesmum]

Hey. Arthur Miller died. For me Author Miller belongs to the class of writers that think depressing=literary. I mean Death of a Salesman isn't exactly a laugh riot, is it? Still he was an American icon, and people will probably be dissecting his words for years to come, so Rest in Peace, Author Miller.

I recently got the most recent Xanth paperback by Piers Anthony. I started reading his Xanth books in the early 80's when I got 'A Spell for Chameleon" for Christmas. They've evolved quite a bit since then, and Xanth quite frankly pales in comparison to Discworld, but i still read his books for sentimental reasons. Piers seems to be one of those 'dirty old men' of the twinkly-eyed variety, not really offensive as it's obvious he means no offense, but rather obsessed with shapely legs and breasts just the same. I'm only bringing this up because I'm wondering who else on my flist reads/has read Piers Anthony and what your opinion of him is.

Comments

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Isn't life depressing? No. Live is suffering. Subtle difference! :) Actually that's why I'm not way keen on my literature being depressing - I live in a world that doesn't guarentee happy endings, I want to escape, however briefly, to a place that does.

Big escapist, me.

[dindin.livejournal.com]

But that doesn't mean it's not literature. :)

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Oh I know - I just feel like American writers in the 20th century felt like their work had to be dead depressing and laden with symbolism in order for it to be considered quality. Probably because that's what the English teachers had to foist upon us. I mean, Charles Dickens wrote lots of really comedic books that were still brilliant and full of social commentary (and suitable death scenes) and the one we read in class was A Tale of Two Cities, his least comedic.

But that's just me. I think at one point I just got tired of dead (and not so dead) guys telling me the world sucks, ya know?