Actually, I think that might be why I continue to read him
Larry Send a noteboard - 23/05/2014 10:31:29 PM
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However, when someone is very clearly writing for entertainment, rather than to create literature as an art form, I judge them by a much lower standard because they're writing pulp for the masses. At that point it's more like watching a summer blockbuster - did I enjoy it? Were the plot holes so big that it detracted from my ability to enjoy it? Were the characters believable? Did their motivations make sense? Did the dialogue make me cringe (or laugh)?
However, when someone is very clearly writing for entertainment, rather than to create literature as an art form, I judge them by a much lower standard because they're writing pulp for the masses. At that point it's more like watching a summer blockbuster - did I enjoy it? Were the plot holes so big that it detracted from my ability to enjoy it? Were the characters believable? Did their motivations make sense? Did the dialogue make me cringe (or laugh)?
By that standard, I think Sanderson is okay most of the time. When he tries to be too descriptive he usually falls flat on his face, and his characters are sometimes too similar to one another and not very well developed. But generally, it's enjoyable.
I'm used to reading for one purpose that even when I switch over to read for another, certain things become magnified. But ultimately, I do rate his works on another scale, even while accounting for things that irritated me as I did read it. But even taking this into account, there are times that even "easy" entertainment fails because he occasionally gets in the way of his own narrative by trying to do too much in simplistic scenes with equally simplistic characters.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance
- 20/05/2014 01:05:59 AM
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I wonder if Sanderson should never have told people about his "Cosmere"
- 20/05/2014 04:31:25 PM
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Well, it's relevant to this particular novel
- 23/05/2014 05:02:47 PM
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I generally assess writers the same way that you do, Larry.
- 23/05/2014 05:18:24 PM
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Actually, I think that might be why I continue to read him
- 23/05/2014 10:31:29 PM
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Ugh. I hate that. "Creating Literature as an Art Form." vs. "Writing for Entertainment"
- 24/05/2014 04:21:08 AM
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There can be combinations of both, but certain groups do pressure writers to "choose sides"
- 25/05/2014 05:18:52 AM
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It also gives "entertainment" writers no incentive to improve their style.
- 25/05/2014 04:33:23 PM
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I agree
- 26/05/2014 05:05:18 AM
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"But I assess writers more on their prose and dialogue than I do on their ideas/concepts"
- 24/05/2014 07:51:15 PM
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Actually, as of two weeks from now, I am 
- 25/05/2014 05:22:04 AM
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- 25/05/2014 05:22:04 AM
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You sir, are a snob, plain and simple.
- 24/05/2014 07:49:02 PM
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Why would I try to defend myself against an ill-supported opinion?
- 25/05/2014 05:16:35 AM
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