Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Some years ago I read a book on writing popular fiction by blockbuster novelist Dean Koonz. In it he defended popular fiction versus the "art" fiction. Frederick Forsythe versus say John Barth or Thomas Pynchon. He mentions one writer in the 1800s who was excoriated by the critics. They called him common, simple, uncreative, without literary style. On the other hand, there were other writers, part of the intelligencia and academia, that they praised to heaven for artistry and depth and style, even though few people read the novels. Of course, no one today except a few scholars know the names of the critically aclaimed authors, but the one that published cheap stories in the popular press about real issues of personal and social concerns is still celebrated today. Charles Dickens. I think all the art for art critics is fine. It will eventually drop into the wastebin of time when there is no one left to have intellectual appreciation. But the art which springs from the depth of human experience, which touches universal pain, joy, hope, dispair, love, ambition, peace and more will live and move new generations precisely because it expresses those common truths that cross time and culture. Certainly Leicas (to stay on topic) have been used to make more of such photos than any other. donal __________ Donal Philby San Diego www.donalphilby.com