Raymond Chandler on literature:
When a book, any sort of book reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over the ball. Every page throws the hook for the next. I call this a kind of genius.
(From a letter by Raymond Chandler to Earl Stanley Gardner.)
I agree; it is a kind of genius.
ReplyDeleteSo how do we know when it has reached that level of intensity?
ReplyDeleteI believe you're getting close when the work is polished.
ReplyDeleteGreg Gutierrez
Zen and the Art of Surfing
Interesting. The line between what's literature and what's not can be pretty blurry. I always wonder what defines the section in book stores. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteVery true, but it makes me wonder what gets you
ReplyDeleteto the right intensity.
Hi kate
ReplyDeleteI think I have read his autobiography. Whitcoulls has it online as a free ebook I think.
Anyhow it was quite good in my opinion
-Maggie S