How Books Work
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 12:09 pm
What seems interesting is the effect a piece of writing has on a reader. I was wondering about the idea of favourite writers and thought that it was probably a misdirection - it's unlikely that everything a particular writer produces will be good, plenty of work is churned out to fulfil contracts or simply to get paid on piece rate. It's probable, then, that mostly we like one or maybe a few, books by the same writer. Why? Is it technical - the writer's style? Or is it that the book or poem or article has spoken what we take to be a truth, has moved us in some profound way that we can't necessarily articulate? Has a specific piece of writing you have read made you change your mind about something you have long believed and held dear?