From: Maia <maia>
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 22:56:43 -0400

It's interesting how huge commercial success seems to cause a detour from discussing the aspects of a work in relation only to itself, and instead encourage a discussion of the work in relation to its success. What I mean is that we get derailed from thinking about what an author did well or poorly, what we like or don't like about a book, and instead look at the book in terms of whether the author did "well enough" to
"deserve" a particular acclaim. Unfortunately, I think we're all prone to those feelings, but it makes for difficult conversation. Personally, I think we have to face the fact that commercial success and worth are not closely correlated - that's just reality in the advertising driven culture of today. It's a bitter pill, but I think that we as critics probably need to learn to keep that bitterness out of our conversation, or we won't get anywhere. In part, 'comparisons are odious,' I fear, unless offered with good cheer. :)

To go forward, however, I'm not sure where we are in our discussion? Ginny et al, has the floor been opened to commentary on other series novels, including Harry Potter, or are we saving that for next month? I'm interested in the Dianne Wynne Jones conversation, but don't want to derail... :)

Maia Cheli-Colando maia at littlefolktales.org
Received on Mon 24 May 1999 09:56:43 PM CDT