Knowing Bloom was a hack probably would've had me discarding the book rather than slogging through it.
Re: seeing subtext everywhere, one of the essays in Finding Serenity (by Larry Dixon -- who is he?) that I just read last night said pretty much the same thing.
I probably came off as blowing off all literary criticism, and I really don't. Good writers have all kinds of layers in their work, and there is nothing wrong with seeing the layers and analyzing them. But sometimes a hoe really is just a hoe, or a rose is just a rose. Reading critically is important, but being too analytical and forgetting that reading is supposed to be fun is what alienates kids and adults from reading for pleasure, hence the turn to tv or other forms of entertainment.
I'll email you shortly, 'cause I'd love to read your article :)
no subject
Re: seeing subtext everywhere, one of the essays in Finding Serenity (by Larry Dixon -- who is he?) that I just read last night said pretty much the same thing.
I probably came off as blowing off all literary criticism, and I really don't. Good writers have all kinds of layers in their work, and there is nothing wrong with seeing the layers and analyzing them. But sometimes a hoe really is just a hoe, or a rose is just a rose. Reading critically is important, but being too analytical and forgetting that reading is supposed to be fun is what alienates kids and adults from reading for pleasure, hence the turn to tv or other forms of entertainment.
I'll email you shortly, 'cause I'd love to read your article :)