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Today, 8/16/08, I read in "Ayn Rand Answers - the best of her Q & A" (page 220):
"... I truly love "If". ... "If" has helped me sometimes in depressed moments, and I hope it does the same for you."
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Q : What plays do you recommend?
AR: The top three plays are: Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano de Bergerac.
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Q : What do you think of science fiction?
AR: It's a legitimate form of literature, but it's seldom good. Science fiction used to be original and interesting; today it's junk. I dislike it because it's too freewheeling. You can invent anything you wish and say that's the science of the future. They go too far that way.
I could not argue with Ayn. There are probably some who enjoy the fanciful world of the unbelievable but my opinion is that Sci Fi is best left for the movies.
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Q: What do you think of the work of Beethoven?
A: He is a great composer, but I can't stand him. Music expresses a sense of life - an emotional response to metaphysical issues. Beethoven is great because he makes his message so clear by means of music; but his message is malevolent universe: man's heroic fight against destiny, and man's defeat. That's the opposite of my sense of life.
Speaking of poetry, please check out my poem. It's my first writing here in goodreadshttp://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
Please comment on it. Positive or negative, I'll take it. I want to improve. Thanks! God bless you guys :)
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You find something good in a subject that is very far from inspiring. The subject an artist chooses reveals his/her soul.
Best wishes.
Ilyn,Does that mean that if an artist writes/paints (etc.) about pain, misery etc.--and does not "come up with" a happy ending or suchlike, then that person is a bad person?
In other words: What, more exactly, is revealed of that person's soul (as you state it in #9).
And, nice poem, Lucille:-)
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Such an artist is a masochist or a sadist. I don't like to contemplate pain, misery, malevolence, or roaches in real life nor in art.
I would contemplate a struggle against pain and misery. I consider such a struggle noble even if it fails.
Thanks Ilyn and Henrik!I'd like to comment on what Ilyn stated on #9.
I believe that it's true. But, I don't think it is a reliable source in judging one's character. What is revealed is the state of one's soul at that particular moment or a period of time in life. One can be happy, sad, depressed, in love, angry, hopeless etc at that particular moment in one's life. In my case, it was an enlightenment by an insight and a lesson is learned at that particular moment in my life. I could've written how I loathed those creatures. Would that make me a bad person? I don't think so. It just showed the state of my heart and soul. That's my opinion ;)
Lucille,I agree: It can show the state of mind, heart, soul, whatever, of the author... But to say, as Ilyn does, that such a person is a masochist or a sadist sounds terrible extreme to me.
You may not agree with my chosen subject for a story, but it sure doesn't make me neither of those, Ilyn. In fact, I am quite sure most people find me amiable and, even, fairly noble when it comes to my character (not to say I am infallible, of course!).
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Dr. Jose Rizal, a genius, a polymath & polyglot, wrote a poem just before he was executed by tyrants at age 35. Every line of his poem is pure grandeur. I love it though I always cry when I read it. one line says, “For I go where no slave before the oppressor bends”.
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Lucille, I did not think of your character when I said, “The subject an artist chooses reveals his/her soul.” Henrik, I said I consider a struggle against pain and misery noble even if it fails. When one glorifies pain and misery, I consider it masochism or sadism.
What you think of your work or your character is what matters. It's your choice: you could disregard or ponder the comments of others. Mine are given not to discourage, and certainly, not to disparage.
Ilyn, I did not write anything about glorifying pain and misery. Writing about something is not necessarily the same as glorifying it. Not even if one, perhaps, writes from a "dark" perspective in a given story.While I agree with you about that whole "character" issue, I still think that your comment was a negative evaluation/judgement a certain kind of artists; one I did not and still do not think was warranted. I used myself as an example because we must also remember that whenever we say something about people in general, it is bound to actually be about a real person. For good or bad, of course.
Maybe I overdid that element, but it could do no harm, I figured. As far as I know it didn't.
Either way, certainly, in 99.9% of the cases I ponder the comments of others, whenever they say something about or to me (+ my work + whatever is discussed). I strongly believe I can always learn and improve--also in that regard. Sometimes, though, I wonder if others do the same.
Oh well. And yet Life still goes on;-)
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@ IlynI know. I just wanted to comment. Hehehe... Just to share a piece of my mind to y'all ;p
I know you were honest, Ilyn. And that's great:-) So was I. Incl. about not necessarily glorifying something just because an author writes about it (cf. Message #15).
Hehehe... Hi Lucille.A regular gathering, eh?;-)
Hey guys. If anyone has a free moment or two, I would appreciate some constructive criticism on my poetry or story I'm in the process of writing. Here's the link to my profile with my writings. http://www.goodreads.com/profile/love... . Thank you in advance!
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... Which reminds me of a friend of mine who, I discovered fairly recently, shared the universal delusion about knighthood and American citizens.
"I thought," he said, " 'holding any office of trust under these United States' was a comic convention of Mencken."
No sir, right there, section one, clause nine of the Constitution.
He was referring to a memorable column by the most famous American journalist of the last century - HL Mencken of Baltimore.
In the roaring 1920s the wonder boy, amateur golfer Bobby Jones, inspired a new national fad - young and old, the famous, infamous and obscure took up golf.
One day a young reporter walked into the Baltimore Sun office wearing plus fours and carrying a golf bag. Mencken was appalled at the costume.
"It makes its wearer look like a stud horse with his hair done up in frizzes ."
He sat down and wrote an indignant column which ended: "If I had my way any man guilty of golf would be ineligible for any office of trust under these United States."
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From Ayn Rand Answers: Which of the Founding Fathers do you most admire and why?
"If I had to choose one, I would say Thomas Jefferson - for the Declaration of Independence, which is probably the GREATEST DOCUMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY, both PHILOSOPHICALLY and literarily."
"A poem does not have to tell a story; its basic attributes are theme and style."
"Poetry is a combination of two arts: literature and music. Rhythm and rhyme, and the thought expressed, are the essence of poetry."