William Akin’s Comments (group member since Jul 14, 2010)

William Akin’s comments from the I have no IDEA group.

indeed, call it a fringe benefit of group membership, our little show.

of course the gist of it is repetitive, we do find new and novel ways of approaching it.

Please don't misconstrue my motives here. I assure you my rant was a personal attack, a challenge for that specific person.

good job.

still, i really love Encyclopedia Brown but that doesn't make me want to give those books five stars.

can i get a translation, chibi?

sometimes jokes are in bad taste, is all.

i'm sorry if you found the comments offensive, but i stand by them. that is the point of the forum, eh? intellectual discussion? would i be me if i didn't challenge your assumptions, sir?

i will stand by my points:

-the expatriated status of the characters in those works of fiction reflect a deeper symbolic intention on the part of the authors. (i'm surely not just talking here. i will stand by the statement that i have spent more time in a single day dissecting the voice, style, and meaning of Hemingway's work than most readers or writers will spend in a lifetime.)

-Crichton is a hack, plain and simple.

-Palahniuk skims and rapes the indie wall at Powell's in Portland, steals what he likes and then waters it down for the masses.

-there is little actual depth or substance in either of their works.

-Ayn Rand was a ranting sow with little if any true ability to understand the significance of true art, not to mention an utter blow hard. drunken barflies tell better stories, with more heart and meaning.

you've read Kundera and Calvino; you can't see the differences between their work and that of the three aforementioned writers?

ok, here goes the rant....

i only joined this group to comment on your comment. i loathe the description, it is self-serving and silly, hardly true. it makes the members look like dicks, (members, i guess).

i'm sad for Bowles and Hem both if that is what you took away from those readings, if they fueled so many belabored ex-pat fantasies. i'm not Hem and i could care less about Fitz, but i can tell you this, will speak for them...THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY MEANT.

you have mistaken setting, background, for the crux of the story and along the way missed the point entirely. i suspect you are lacking in the ability to seize upon the more subtle meanings of texts. readers need to look deeper, to seek writers that desire to take them deeper. you will forever be duped into parting from your money by hacks like Crichton and Palahniuk, people who write with shallow plots and gimmicks that pretend to allude to some higher truth which they themselves don't understand and therefore can never lead you toward.

really, you gave 5 stars to THE FOUNTAINHEAD; i'm pulling the punches big time, be assured.

though you did read Calvino, that's a start. Try AMERICAN GODS, JURGEN, LIGHT BOXES, VERA AND LINUS (though i doubt it is easy to find at all). Reread Hem and look for the truths of his work. Find a book that really, really changes your life. then tell me about it.