Book-induced chattiness.

[smw]

I’ve just finished a book that I enjoyed, which always makes me mope. In an attempt to continue the experience a little longer I thought I would start a conversation here on one of the author’s topics.

Namely, in her Art Objects, a driving force of Jeanette Winterson's essays is the belief that prose needs to be intense, precise, poetic. In “A Work of My Own”, she has this to say:

A writer’s style is all she has and the price of the making of it is everything she has. To fit language to her hand she must command at her hand resources of body and mind, totality of self and the self of her that acts as a skein to carry the world in. She must be well read, she must be clever. She must be curious, she must be sharp. Whatever she can muster to her fingertips, let her, and her hands will begin to control the instrument she desires.

The ecstatic and emphatic nature of her persona makes a great place to begin talking, doesn’t it?

I’m curious: what do you derive from this? What does it make you think and feel? What concepts do you agree or disagree with? Obviously a paragraph pulled from a collection of essays only says so much, but this one is saying quite a bit despite that.

I’d like particularly to talk about whether style is as central as that. Can I presume that everyone here believes that prose should be beautiful, whether that beauty is got at through verbose or spare use of words? Do you believe that establishing a clear and genial relationship with the reader is foremost, or creating words and imagery that you as the author can love? & etc., of course. It puts hearts in my eyes when I say something and another person has an unexpected reply.

Comments

[intothewood]

Oh interesting!

Do you believe that establishing a clear and genial relationship with the reader is foremost, or creating words and imagery that you as the author can love?

Well, I think of something like Finnegans Wake, which seems to be a total self indulgence for James Joyce, who not only couldn't give a shit whether readers got it, but most likely was secretly filled with glee at his great private joke. Okay, maybe or maybe not, but it brings me to the point of saying that authors and audiences must be willing to meet at a point somewhere in between - whether that leans toward comprehension or confusion.

I like challenging fiction because it causes me to think, and to me, that's the most important function of any art.

You know, I often think of something Sister Wendy said in an interview - that it's a great comfort to think you're right. And giving a swift glance at something and making a judgement is that superior rush of being right, whether the judgment is good or bad. To be unsure, perhaps uncomfortably unsure, is where the true relationship between the art and the audience comes in. I guess what I want is that type of relationship, whether in my own writing, or in what I read.

[smw]

... authors and audiences must be willing to meet at a point somewhere in between - whether that leans toward comprehension or confusion.

Is it a compromise, then?

I agree in general, and as a writer would say that communicating with my readers is a deliberate consideration within my style. There might be space for one Finnegans Wake in the world, but I'm doubtful there needs to be a second.

[intothewood]

There is compromise, although it's up for debate on who should do the compromising and under what circumstances. If you know you're going to be reading Finnegans Wake, you must expect to be in for a mindfuck - but I don't believe in confusing the audience for the sake of confusion.

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro is a proper mindfuck as well, but it serves a real purpose, the reader is supposed to be thrown off guard and confused. I wouldn't want him to compromise one sentence for the sake of clarity because it would completely ruin his intention.

But there is an art to the thing. I think writing in an unconventional manner requires a great deal of skill in leading the reader where you want them to go without throwing them completely off track.