NPPF Canto 1: "smudge of ashen fluff"

[Malignd]

<<You're free to apply your own "test tubes and
calipers" as you like, of course, though thus far
you've offered little to substantiate your claim.>>

I'm offering an opinion, quite a different thing.  And
I have no claim to substantiate.  I could cite lines
that I think are far from banal and you could
disagree.  I think, on the evidence, we need go no
further than the opening lines to accomplish that.

<<And beyond the frequent lapses in style there are
also those larger questions relating to Shade's chosen
subject matter and the philosophical pretensions of
the piece ...>> 

We agree there are lapses in style.  His subject
matter--death and afterlife, the death of his
daughter, his own encounter with near death--I have no
quibble with any of that.

<<... and the incongruity of his own work habits. 
In fact, it seems to me that Shade's the one who
measures creativity and aesthetic value -- let alone
personal grief -- in terms of a fixed quota of lines
per day.>>

Here you're losing me.  I see no correlation between
work habits and quality.  Hemingway, for one, famously
kept page counts; worked three hours, then knocked
off; half a dozen #2 pencils then quit, etc.


 

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