speaking of the aaargh, in general terms, i came across this quote from david foster wallace, in an article about michael schur's sitcom 'the good place'
Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.
[Q&A with Larry McCaffery, Review of Contemporary Fiction , Summer 1993, Vol. 13.2]
Saw the title and thought it was some sort of illocutionary edict. Was out of town when LB played here recently. Drat.
ReplyDeletespeaking of the aaargh, in general terms, i came across this quote from david foster wallace, in an article about michael schur's sitcom 'the good place'
ReplyDeleteLook, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.
[Q&A with Larry McCaffery, Review of Contemporary Fiction , Summer 1993, Vol. 13.2]