Jonathan Franzen: 'America is almost a rogue state'

[Mark Kohut]

Writers have real life opinions. Like any of us. Some are more nuanced than 
others. Some are more prosaic, i.e. more stupid.

In ambitious fiction, one's views/opinions matter and are somehow there. (just 
read a great line
from Cheever about how even an extra glass of wine is visible in one's prose).

Yet, successful serious fiction can carry more resonant meanings than most 
prosaic opinions. Scenes,
characters and internal images spread out like rings in a lake where a rock is 
thrown...

But for me, ambitious 'social realist' fiction runs a grave danger of dated 
partiality [of vision] despite its ambition.

Is ending up like The Jungle in literary history or even  less or And Quiet 
Flows the Don in 

Russia's social realistic tradition
of latent propaganda the default state of many, many works of 'social realist' 
fiction?






----- Original Message ----
From: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
To: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 8:32:51 AM
Subject: Re: Jonathan Franzen: 'America is almost a rogue state'

funny that he should echo the views of Walter in the interview, when
the book seems to be aiming toward a more moderate view than Walter's