Now where the fuck is Robin? :-) Damn that was good Bob - how can I be like you? You are one of most creative persons to have graced this list - you leave me with the dissonant feelings of delight, wonder coupled with envy !!!
On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 7:16 PM, Bob Price <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > > > > ________________________________ > From: turquoiseb <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 7:58:43 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Prerequisites for Enlightenment > > >>>And for your information, I dash off things here and send them without > editing them because most of the time I'm just having fun with them. > That, and the audience I'm writing for doesn't meet my standards for > deserving edited copy -- they're not paying me. > > >>>For paying customers, I edit. Non-paying customers who don't like > my unedited posts can go suck eggs. Non-paying editors who get off > on editing my posts for me should pay *me*, for providing them with > something to do on those days when they're off work and thus not > busy...uh...editing. :-) > > ****** > > I was thrilled with last weeks *posting without limits*, > it gave me a sense of power and control knowing that I could > respond to any and all of the 1500+ posts that I just finished reading. > > One of our illustrious contributors suggested that we might consider a > *Best of FFL* > going forward, and with that in mind I set myself the difficult task of > picking > my favorite subject for the week; it was a challenge (how could anyone > best Share's attempt > to prove she speaks in tongues), but a decision had to be made and I'm > going with: > > "Is Voldemort a hack?" > > When I read Voldemort's posts I ask myself: "Where's the art?". For > someone with his > considerable output on FFL, who puts so much effort into selling himself > to us as > > a creative writer, art seems conspicuously absent from his contributions; > this might > be less true if you consider manual (or phonebook) writing a creative act. > > As he makes clear above, Voldemort is a writer of manuals, and, IMO, when > he attempts > > anything more than that, the word "hack" pretty much nails what he becomes. > > For something to be considered art it's imperative that it have the > ability to defamiliarize* > by making the familiar, unfamiliar and *new*; Voldemort's posts completely > fail at this. > OTOH, Judy's choice of the word "hack", to describe Voldemort, is a great > example of effective > defamiliarization---it gave me a new experience of something that was > familiar about him. > > I also must agree with Judy that irony is the life blood of creative > writing > > (writing phonebooks, not as much), and reading Voldemort's attempts at > writing creatively > > ---when he is so handicapped in the irony department (narcissism will do > that), is like watching > > someone with no hands attempt to show off his penmanship (no "My left > foot" jokes please). He also > appears to be unable to go beyond cliche and what Martin Amis calls "heard > words", which make > > his offerings, on this forum at least, quite artless. Anyone who considers > Voldemort a creative writer > might consider rereading Hemingway (if you are interested in understanding > some of Kerouac's limitations, > who Voldemort attempts to emulate---without demonstrating any of Kerouac's > talent as an artist). > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abc819rT6wI > > The film "The Master" was an example for me of the way art can make the > familiar *new*; the whole film > > delivered artistically, but the scene where Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour > Hoffman) "Processes" Freddie > > Quell (Joaquin Phoenix)---for the first time, felt in some way like the > first time I meditated; my experience of > > the scene was familiar and at the same time completely new; part of it was > the suggestiveness of Dodd's > voice, but more was the scene's transition from Dodd's voice to Quell > *living* a previous experience > as if for the first time, and the familiarity it had to my first > meditation and the first superlative > > clarity of the thought (engram or, if you will, un-stressing) that > reported or noticed an artifact of my > > awareness that had just existed without thinking. > > The art of the writing, acting, and editing were part of it, but I believe > it was the cinematography, > with its use of 70mm film (which is rare today), that more than anything > else was essential to making > > the experience possible for me. > > Another component of the film that worked the same way for me was Joaquin > Phoenix's characterization > of Freddie Quell, which allowed me to experience---as if for the first > time---character types that I > met as a child who were friends of my father that had served with him in > WW2; JP's characterization > > of Quell had the same effect on me as a number of characters Jim Thompson > (writer of "The Getaway" and > > "The Grifters") created that felt as new, when I read about them in his > novels, but reminded me of some > psychopathic cowboy's my father socialized with. > > I wouldn't disagree that Voldemort's posts are full of conflict (more than > one detective has found creative > uses for the Yellow Pages, when interviewing a suspect)---and that > conflict is essential to drama, but conflict > > without art is no more than conflict; Voldemort is also capable of irony, > although I've yet to read anything > ironic in his posts that was not inadvertent and ended up making him look > vacuous. I'm sure most of us have > favorites of his inadvertent irony, my personal favorite is his > declaration that he can type as fast as he > thinks (smile). > > Share, lets imagine that Voldemort is not pushing 70---with the emotional > palette of an 8 year old; lets > imagine he has some class and wants to apologize for his abusive post to > you, and lets imagine a song he > would apologize with: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZmSkUL6Ws > > *Reference: Victor Shklovsky - "Art as Technique" > > > http://web.fmk.edu.rs/files/blogs/2010-11/MI/Misliti_film/Viktor_Sklovski_Art_as_Technique.pdf > > > > > > > >
