tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post111373823922611923..comments2024-03-18T16:55:31.971+00:00Comments on This Space: First-time thinker? Robert McCrum on the rush to publicationStephen Mitchelmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1114188681121446062005-04-22T17:51:00.000+01:002005-04-22T17:51:00.000+01:00Fair criticism - I guess the problem for Robert is...Fair criticism - I guess the problem for Robert is word count - he'd never have space to fit in everyone, while singling out a few crap debuts would just look vindictive. It's one of the big problems with literary journalism - if you don't have the space of somewhere like the TLS, literature is always hard to cover in the detail you'd like. But it really is a fair point he's making - there are too many small houses giving too many talentless people a deal, literary or otherwise. Sometimes, it comes off and the talented get deserved recognition, (see, I don't know, Richard Collins at Seren) but the industry does need to regulate itself or the wheat will be lost in the chaff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1114182575782597592005-04-22T16:09:00.000+01:002005-04-22T16:09:00.000+01:00From the article, it seems he's referring only to ...From the article, it seems he's referring only to novels, specifically literary novels (the reference to "first novels" for instance) rather than just the usual pap. Anyway, that's nothing new. What Orwell wrote about books and bookshops in 1936 might have been written today: http://www.sozialistische-klassiker.org/Orwell/Orwelle8.html<BR/><BR/>I'm in no doubt I'd be more critical if confronted with an endless stream of bad novels. But I would name names. It was the lack of detail in the article that appalled me.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1114180764810636312005-04-22T15:39:00.000+01:002005-04-22T15:39:00.000+01:00tripe, not 'trip', sorry.tripe, not 'trip', sorry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1114180714832065912005-04-22T15:38:00.000+01:002005-04-22T15:38:00.000+01:00I've been working at the Observer this week, oppos...I've been working at the Observer this week, opposite Robert McCrum. Every day 2 huge mail bags have arrived, full of books submitted for review by publishers. For the month of April, there are about 200 books here, probably more. And 95% of them are crap - shoddy detective novels, fatuous chick-lit, and spur-of-the-moment biographies. It takes several days to go through all the trip to find the 10 or so books that are actually worth reviewing. You won't hear 'who' these novelists are, because we don't bother reviewing them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113830905658431062005-04-18T14:28:00.000+01:002005-04-18T14:28:00.000+01:00'Planning to set London on fire?' Dr Who did that ...'Planning to set London on fire?'<BR/> Dr Who did that last week did he not?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113809408598606852005-04-18T08:30:00.000+01:002005-04-18T08:30:00.000+01:00The moment I pressed 'Login and Publish', I realiz...The moment I pressed 'Login and Publish', I realized I'd sent a fragment of a long-standing monologue for all to see.<BR/><BR/>The point being: start with something manageable. Start with something you can finish.<BR/><BR/>Sound advice, I suppose. But what's the rush? (Oh yes, that wonderful William Gaddis title: "The Rush for Second Place"...!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113774848217436512005-04-17T22:54:00.000+01:002005-04-17T22:54:00.000+01:00I couldn't possibly comment! (But London is safe)....I couldn't possibly comment! (But London is safe).Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113772453686273672005-04-17T22:14:00.000+01:002005-04-17T22:14:00.000+01:00Are you working on some Roubaud-scale fictional be...Are you working on some Roubaud-scale fictional beast? Planning to set London on fire?<BR/><BR/>You've already made a very interesting start with the review-essays, so maybe you could follow Borges' lead and let the fictional elements seep into the 'straight stuff'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113751900661324422005-04-17T16:31:00.000+01:002005-04-17T16:31:00.000+01:00Yes it can be fun.I've always had something about ...Yes it can be fun.<BR/><BR/>I've always had something about the word -<BR/><BR/>Gob-shite...<BR/><BR/>Luv it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113750539803836752005-04-17T16:08:00.000+01:002005-04-17T16:08:00.000+01:00Wanker.Oh yes, it can fun.Wanker.<BR/><BR/>Oh yes, it can fun.Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113748741989036312005-04-17T15:39:00.000+01:002005-04-17T15:39:00.000+01:00By the way about the Wodehouse had you ever though...By the way about the Wodehouse had you ever thought that literature can be fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113748133851749762005-04-17T15:28:00.000+01:002005-04-17T15:28:00.000+01:00'Which 'one' are you addressing? 'One address ever...'Which 'one' are you addressing? '<BR/><BR/>One address every living thinking being and the universe through language and, of course, translation. And most importantly those that are lost.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113742957139960042005-04-17T14:02:00.000+01:002005-04-17T14:02:00.000+01:00What are you talking about? Which 'one' are you ad...What <I>are</I> you talking about? Which 'one' are you addressing? Which 'point' are you referring to? What does it mean to "open one's eyes and begin to look around"? And what kind of writing or reading is daring?Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-1113741620843851622005-04-17T13:40:00.000+01:002005-04-17T13:40:00.000+01:00'...Maybe writing obscures what’s important,...'.....'...Maybe writing obscures what’s important,...<BR/><BR/>'...philistine English literary scene...'<BR/><BR/>If this is the point then one can only say that one should open ones eyes and begin to look around, begin and dare to write - and best of all begin to read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com