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Oh, come now... fionwe1987 Send a noteboard - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM

By "you," referencing the attitudes of those who dismiss out of hand authors who have earned some sort of cultural cachet in favor of what? Would I trust a non-expert to fix my car? To diagnose a medical condition? To do my taxes?

Of course not. Then why would I want to trust a non-expert when it comes to evaluating things such as music, literature, and cinema? I've learned something of the first and last through observation, but I've also discovered that there's a ton of people with shit tastes.

If you've never read The Magic Mountain or Doctor Faustus and want to praise Brandon Sanderson of all people for what he writes, there truly is no accounting for taste.

I agree with the crux of your point, but how the hell can you compare a literary/art critic with a mechanic, accountant or a doctor? No art critic can make definitive, objective, true-in-all-contexts statements about what is "good" and what is not.

You can trust a doctor to fix your body and not a random guy because there is definite knowledge a doctor has is real.

If you "trust" an art critic to tell you what is good, then you're hopeless. The best a critic can do is explain his personal reaction to any work in terms that can help you choose. The best of them will compare with other relevant works, explore the context of the work, etc., and the worst will simply use a points or star system. Either way, you read multiple reviews, compare the critics view with your own, and "trust" him or not on the basis of how much your tastes match. Hardly a scientific process.
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Brandon Sanderson plans 36 books in his 'Cosmere' setting Werthead - 19/02/2012 11:45:24 AM 4675 Views
Was Sanderson created by the Writng Gods to counter balance GRRM? Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 05:13:07 PM 1471 Views
A modern Moorcock, eh ? *NM* Orange - 19/02/2012 05:39:00 PM 646 Views
I just wish he'd be done with the RJ shit and go back to writing his own books. Tom - 19/02/2012 05:40:59 PM 1412 Views
well, the publication date for that book is set somewhere a year from now.. jh - 19/02/2012 07:48:58 PM 1261 Views
Agreed on both points..... Anonymous2000 - 19/02/2012 08:00:41 PM 1355 Views
Well, but he is a "fluff" writer from a literary standpoint Tom - 20/02/2012 02:16:11 AM 1425 Views
Not a fluff writer in my mind..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:12:46 AM 1380 Views
You don't seem to want to hear what I'm saying Tom - 20/02/2012 03:51:13 AM 1327 Views
And I am saying that storytelling is more important..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 04:52:39 AM 1459 Views
Storytelling is crucial... DomA - 20/02/2012 05:59:57 AM 1451 Views
A few comments/replies about your post..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 02:57:16 PM 1379 Views
You are correct in one respect: all of this is opinion. Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:11 PM 1376 Views
You sound like one of those nasty "literary elites"! Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 08:07:13 PM 1319 Views
Literature is subjective cortez1 - 21/02/2012 12:26:35 AM 1398 Views
Very well said..... *NM* Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 01:12:40 AM 610 Views
I agree with your point about reading Shakespeare from textbooks. Tom - 21/02/2012 03:18:37 AM 1428 Views
Never heard of Thomas Mann and the real Mona Lisa..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 03:34:12 AM 1277 Views
Conversely, why should I trust the likes of you? Larry - 21/02/2012 06:19:18 AM 1529 Views
Oh, come now... fionwe1987 - 21/02/2012 10:35:18 AM 1451 Views
When it comes to evaluating schema, I'm not going to trust someone who only had English 101 Larry - 21/02/2012 11:26:03 AM 1256 Views
Mostly agreed cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:00:51 PM 1326 Views
Mostly true Larry - 21/02/2012 09:27:09 PM 1373 Views
Re: Mostly true cortez1 - 22/02/2012 12:58:55 AM 1192 Views
Larry = snob Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:34:22 PM 1312 Views
Amusing Larry - 21/02/2012 07:49:20 PM 1299 Views
Wow, you lack basic reading comprehension skills..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:29:24 PM 1285 Views
No, I read that and didn't disagree that there couldn't be works that had both (read other comments) Larry - 21/02/2012 09:23:31 PM 1388 Views
See I think the word "entertaining" is misleading cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:31:59 PM 1306 Views
Uh...Faust is a play. Doctor Faustus is a novel. The former is Goethe, the latter is Mann. *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 12:00:22 AM 650 Views
D'uh.....notice the smiley face. Good grief! *NM* Anonymous2000 - 22/02/2012 12:50:23 AM 653 Views
Just checking... *NM* Tom - 22/02/2012 01:07:40 AM 601 Views
I suppose fame is relative, but the most famous Doctor Faustus, to me personally, is indeed a play. Legolas - 22/02/2012 07:29:59 PM 1212 Views
On the subject of people who drop out of the canon Tom - 23/02/2012 01:07:10 AM 1397 Views
Wait, let's look at the gross disconnect between two statements. Tom - 21/02/2012 01:59:34 PM 1415 Views
I have not blindly rejected the literary elites..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 05:27:35 PM 1371 Views
So true about the Mona Lisa. Legolas - 21/02/2012 07:57:41 PM 1429 Views
Yes, I was at the Louvre and you are right..... Anonymous2000 - 21/02/2012 08:32:40 PM 1318 Views
This is where your own rethoric defeats you... DomA - 23/02/2012 06:38:54 AM 1298 Views
Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... Anonymous2000 - 23/02/2012 05:12:47 PM 1150 Views
Re: Slow down - it may not be the current elites that are hyping it..... DomA - 13/03/2012 03:10:12 AM 1414 Views
There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" DomA - 21/02/2012 08:58:11 PM 1319 Views
Re: There's "subjective", and there's "lack of education" cortez1 - 21/02/2012 09:23:38 PM 1469 Views
Thank you. That was excellent. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 07:01:31 PM 688 Views
Seems like an awful lot. everynametaken - 19/02/2012 08:11:22 PM 1541 Views
Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different beetnemesis - 20/02/2012 12:50:41 AM 1437 Views
I thought he was just recycling the name at first. *NM* Tom - 20/02/2012 02:09:57 AM 704 Views
Re: Sanderson is a machine. Also, the books (so far) have been wildly different j-whitt987 - 20/02/2012 03:00:17 AM 1510 Views
Same here- I didn't know about the Cosmere at all until I started poking around online beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 03:25:36 AM 1335 Views
Likewise. After reading Mistborn and Warbreaker I started looking into him more Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:20:09 PM 1362 Views
It's likely to stay that way... DomA - 20/02/2012 06:22:50 AM 1420 Views
I think he can actually do both Werthead - 20/02/2012 03:31:00 PM 1481 Views
Re: I think he can actually do both DomA - 20/02/2012 06:34:30 PM 1535 Views
I love it. Nate - 19/02/2012 10:00:28 PM 1259 Views
Confirmation on the Mistborn trilogies. I am so happy. *NM* Ghavrel - 20/02/2012 05:38:23 AM 597 Views
I am thrilled to see that there will be more stories about Wax and Wayne..... Anonymous2000 - 20/02/2012 03:46:37 PM 1191 Views
The one issue I had with that book... Kronin al'Sulc - 21/02/2012 06:21:29 PM 1306 Views
Waxillium! *NM* beetnemesis - 21/02/2012 10:47:03 PM 610 Views
WAXILLIUM! *NM* Darth_Katie - 04/03/2012 07:39:37 AM 817 Views
Why is that an issue? I think those names are great. callandor1000 - 23/02/2012 05:31:51 AM 1259 Views
Do you not like puns? *NM* Kaldric - 06/03/2012 01:38:31 PM 688 Views
BS- The Fantasy Stephen King? xtet19x - 21/12/2012 08:12:21 PM 1076 Views
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