Fwd: Master of Petersburg

[David Morris]

I thought this was offlist, but then Laura's post arrived, so I now
forward this to the list:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Subject: Re: Master of Petersburg
To: Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>


Hi Thomas,

I've not really thought much about grimness/darkness being
pretentiousness, except maybe when it is an affectation, like a
black-nailed and slickly coiffed Goth Kid. I suppose the poems of
Sylvia Plath might be considered that kind of pretension, but that's a
tough indictment for someone who was probably terribly depressed and
who committed suicide.

I'd say grimness avoids the charge of pretentiousness when it is the
result of an author's deep consideration of the situations at hand,
like those strong opinions in "Diary."

As for Cormac McCarthy, I've read "Blood Meridian" and "No Country for
Old Men."  Blood Meridian was superior by far.  It is beautifully
written, so much so that its extremely violent scenes transcend
themselves.  And unlike the super-villain in "No Country," the bad guy
(the Judge) in BM is fascinatingly complex.  Blood Meridian is for me
like a cross between Moby Dick and some dark tale by William Faulkner.
 You would probably like it.  But I do know some who think its
violence is only exploitative.

Sincerely,
David Morris

On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 4:02 PM, Thomas Eckhardt
<thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de> wrote:
>
> More generally speaking, there is a fine line in literature between
> grimness/darkness of world view and pretentiousness. I don't think Coetzee
> is pretentious, but I imagine that the charge could be brought up against
> him. I am also thinking of  whom I have not read. Any
> thoughts?