NP - A bit of the lit game

[Matthew Cissell]

Hey all,

Lit bits for the whole crew.

 I've just come across a few things that are part of the game. First, reading a newspaper magazine (from the spanish El Correo) I learned of a very successful writer, Nicholas Sparks who is the "Stephen King" of romance. Now if you're wondering how much of a compliment that is, stop; he apparently admires King. He writes 2,000 words a day (no Thomas Wolfe, heh) and finishes a book in 5 months. "When I concieve a story I always think about the novel as much as the film. If it doesn't work for the cinema, I tear it up" (my translation from spanish). Oh, and for content no curse-words or premarital sex - he doesn't write anything his grandma wouldn't read. Sounds great, right? 
I would like to put up more but time's not my friend. Instead let me summarise. He knows his work is disposable: "in the lit industry booms come and go...Da Vinci Code, Twilight... they become a hit and disappear" (Take note of those examples.) Then later he says the e-books and desk-top publishing aren't the future since "anybody can right a book", however "if there weren't publishers and editors, how would we distinguish good literature from the bad?" Boy is he confused. THe interview ends with a question about Sparks' love of Don Quijote; this comes off as a poor attempt to demonstrate his cultural capital while borrowing from Cervantes.
We know that James Wood has explained how Fiction (read Literature of legitimate culture) works, maybe he could write another book to explain the above.

 Second and shorter bit, but more of the game. John Irving has a book out that he was pumping in Barcelona, there he pulled a trick that puts him up with Roddy Doyle and others. He stated that Hemingway was the greatest fraud in history as man and writer, he fairly trashes old Hem - much worse than Doyle on Joyce. Not that I care, I went through Hem long ago and never got hung up on him. However, he is a great target if you wish to play that card. It certainly exemplifies how writers position themselves in regard to iconic figures in the field as well as other players in the field (notice that Irving doesn't go after Sparks or Michel Houellebecq. Trash talk is for boxers and as a wrestler I expected a little more from MR Irving, but you won't hear me say much about him - not worth the time.

When I come across stuff like this it makes me admire Pynchon even more, he knows how to use his silence and cunning as well as JJ did.

from the ludic side of Lit
mc otis