> I wrote:
>
> "I have never been "brought to experience" an a.e.
> > because of an "explanatory" remark about the work -- by its creator or
> any
> > other
> > commentator."
>
> Joseph responded:
>
> "But isn't there the possibility that you might have misunderstood a work
> of
> art/the artist's original intent?....Bradbury says that everyone has
> misunderstood the message of FAHRENHEIT 451."
>
Yes. But, never, ever, has the so-called "message" of work given me an
"a.e.". 'War is hell, jealousy is bad, man needs his illusions. You can't
recover the past, you can't escape the past.' Some good, and a million awful,
stories can be said to have exactly those august "messages" as themes. Not
once has my being informed of the creator's "intent" changed my "aesthetic"
reaction to the presented work.
