tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post8506134556685346460..comments2023-08-28T17:07:30.382-07:00Comments on American Pop Lit: The #1 SeedsKing Wenclashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829669817922977533noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-59829219187733023712011-04-07T13:06:47.179-07:002011-04-07T13:06:47.179-07:00Beloved is definitely up there with Gatsby.Beloved is definitely up there with Gatsby.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-6069490976482805892011-04-05T18:26:39.318-07:002011-04-05T18:26:39.318-07:00Yeah, while Faulkner has some short story gems (&q...Yeah, while Faulkner has some short story gems ("A Rose for Emily"), Fitzgerald outclasses him there, too, IMO.Frank Marcopoloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434560672740630201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-41881893126884218792011-04-05T18:04:57.586-07:002011-04-05T18:04:57.586-07:00Frank- I'm with you. I have tried reading Faul...Frank- I'm with you. I have tried reading Faulkner a few times and had to give up early on each time as it put me to sleep. Plus, Fitzgerald was one hell of a short story writer as wellSean Patrick Reardonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14051252366031997054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-49882769031418524202011-04-05T14:01:16.439-07:002011-04-05T14:01:16.439-07:00Twain for #1 seed: persona – body of work – critic...Twain for #1 seed: persona – body of work – critical standing. Only argument against is The Prince and the Pauper. Still, he should be at that press conference. Who else would have the Supreme American-ness to arrange for publication of his memoir one hundred years after his death, serially, not in chronological order, but in the order of his least to his most intimate revelations? I sense Walt Whitman getting weak in the knees, Hemingway pouring himself a good stiff drink.<br />If every #1 seed ends up born in the 19th century, can we have every #2 seed born in the 20th century? I promise I won’t ask for #3 seeds from the 21st.Barr Bielinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18070892344863163602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-87635004754519666432011-04-05T13:25:09.334-07:002011-04-05T13:25:09.334-07:00I also want to make a pitch for Ambrose Bierce bei...I also want to make a pitch for Ambrose Bierce being included in the tournament. I know he never wrote a novel, but in addition to many, many great short stories (including "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - perhaps the finest short story ever), he also wrote The Devil's Dictionary, which should garner him some additional points.Frank Marcopoloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434560672740630201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-78744104316132310652011-04-05T13:17:06.457-07:002011-04-05T13:17:06.457-07:00For me, Fitzgerald is way ahead of Faulkner. Gatsb...For me, Fitzgerald is way ahead of Faulkner. Gatsby may be THEE quintessential American novel, but even if not, it tops anything Faulkner ever did, easily.Frank Marcopoloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434560672740630201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-19463238994787111952011-04-05T13:03:11.882-07:002011-04-05T13:03:11.882-07:00Hard choices will have to be made all the way down...Hard choices will have to be made all the way down the line.<br />Fitzgerald or Faulkner?<br />Faulkner's stock has slipped a bit in recent years, but the Southern lit crowd is a strong group.<br />Neither is quite a #1 seed in my book.<br />I'll explain this.<br />Hawthorne or Melville?<br />Both are significant. Melville's writing sounds today more contemporary. Like Hawthorne-- or Fitzgerald-- he has masterpieces. Melville also looks the part of Great American Writer, so can balance out Fitzgerald's near-mythic persona. <br />Decisions, decisions.<br />Choosing women writers is problematic. Believe me, I'm determined to allow for my male bias, and adjust accordingly-- but only to a point.<br />If we choose a woman, then who?<br />Toni Morrison? A top candidate no doubt.<br />Is Beloved up there with Gatsby? Moby Dick?<br />Edith Wharton?<br />Margaret Mitchell? Willa Cather? <br />Harriet Beecher Stowe?<br />There's only one woman novelist with a giant persona who wrote sweeping novels which significantly influenced American thought, for better or worse-- and she's more scorned by lit critics than Stowe is.<br />A top seed needs in some way to represent America-- the size, variety, uniqueness, and madness of America.<br />The writing should also, in some way, still live.<br />There are a couple women I already know I'm going to rate high based not on output so much as talent and persona. Sylvia Plath, for instance, is as much a mythic figure as Fitzgerald. (That Plath is a feminist darling I treat as neutral.)<br />Mere academic p.c. approval isn't good enough. <br />We'll get into these questions more, I hope, as we go along.<br />Let's hear arguments. The brackets are in flux.<br />(Twain? Watch for Twain. He's on the scene in case needed at the top seed press conference>)King Wenclashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02829669817922977533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-60372264919462577202011-04-05T10:20:27.879-07:002011-04-05T10:20:27.879-07:00Twain's a giant, no doubt. Would be hard to ar...Twain's a giant, no doubt. Would be hard to argue against him as a #1 seed.Frank Marcopoloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434560672740630201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-69895580498315414432011-04-05T10:04:10.125-07:002011-04-05T10:04:10.125-07:00I'm for Mark Twain as a #1 seed, but then woul...I'm for Mark Twain as a #1 seed, but then wouldn't the fourth #1 have to be 20th century, preferably a woman, preferably of color, and preferably a playwright? Or is it too late to impose political correctness on American letters at this point?Barr Bielinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18070892344863163602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-20606709790725673012011-04-05T09:44:33.058-07:002011-04-05T09:44:33.058-07:00F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldSean Patrick Reardonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14051252366031997054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-20864169609698191562011-04-05T09:20:42.202-07:002011-04-05T09:20:42.202-07:00p.s. When I asked Emily to sign on board she told ...p.s. When I asked Emily to sign on board she told me,<br />"They put me in the Closet.<br />They might as wise have lodged a bird."King Wenclashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02829669817922977533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-7910325899367534972011-04-05T09:19:09.876-07:002011-04-05T09:19:09.876-07:00Hawthorne's up there, but I don't know if ...Hawthorne's up there, but I don't know if he has the full weight necessary to be a #1 seed.<br />Re seeding, for those new to it. As in sports, it's meant to give an easier route to the title to those who've earned a higher status. The #1 seeds will thus square off against the #16 seeds. #2 versus #15. And so on.<br />Re Emily D: As evidenced by my ouija board conversations with her, I'm a huge fan of "The Woman in White," and consider her a dark horse candidate, based on her genius, to take it all. <br />I will do a discussion of underdogs at some point, and get into what the Vegas touts, the 1-800 and 1-900 crowd, and such, are already saying as regards a "line" on this competition.<br />By the way, I've decided to enlist a few commentators for the event among the likely contestants. Emily D has agreed to be one of them.<br />Yes, yes, I know that she was a bit of a recluse in her day, but if you read between the lines, she didn't want to be.<br />As she said to me (or to someone),<br />"If fame belonged to me,<br />I could not escape her."<br />***********<br />It'll be interesting anyway to see what she thinks of Hem and others.<br />(Meanwhile, Mr. Self-Advertisement himself, Mailer, is standing outside my door-- I recognize his shock of hair-- desperately kneading his fists muttering to himself "I, Mailer" and wishing to put himself forward as one of the commmentators.)King Wenclashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02829669817922977533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-58224184549475902962011-04-05T09:07:29.175-07:002011-04-05T09:07:29.175-07:00Don't know if it merits a #1 seed, but what I&...Don't know if it merits a #1 seed, but what I've gleaned from doing as audiostories some of the best short stories ever written is this: "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is far and away the most popular American short story ever. The data I use for this conclusion are the play counts on my audio players, play counts on my videos on YouTube, and requests and comments, all of which show that this story is head and shoulders above the rest.<br /><br />One explanation is that this must be a popular high school curriculum story, and it seems I do get some academics checking things out in audio, as a time-saving measure.<br /><br />Of course Hawthorne also has THE SCARLET LETTER top his credit, which is so impactful, they recently made yet another movie based on it, "Easy A." Really amazing for a guy writing in the 1800's!Frank Marcopoloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434560672740630201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8579866216081942053.post-20819034491008102022011-04-05T08:52:08.730-07:002011-04-05T08:52:08.730-07:00I don't even know what "seed" means,...I don't even know what "seed" means, but from the world of weird poets, I nominate Dickinson.<br /><br />Nobody knew more.Shelleyhttp://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com