The Elephant
1914reader.com
The Elephant
Taste requires originality. It invokes an aspirational authenticity. Writer George Saunders calls this “achieving the iconic space,” and it’s what he’s after when he meets his creative writing students. “They arrive already wonderful. What we try to do over the next three years is help them achieve what I call their “iconic space” — the place from... See more
Brie Wolfson • Notes on “Taste”
The famous Anton Ego speech in Ratatouille:
In many ways, the work of a critic is easy.
We risk very little, yet enjoy a position of those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement.
We thrive on negative criticism.
Which is fun to write and to read.
But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the
... See moreTwo parables:
First, Ezra Pound’s parable of Agassiz, from his “ABC of Reading” (incidentally one of the most underrated books about literature). I’ve preserved his quirky formatting:
No man is equipped for modern thinking until he has understood the anecdote of Agassiz and the fish:
First, Ezra Pound’s parable of Agassiz, from his “ABC of Reading” (incidentally one of the most underrated books about literature). I’ve preserved his quirky formatting:
No man is equipped for modern thinking until he has understood the anecdote of Agassiz and the fish:
A post-graduate student equipped with honours and diplomas went to... See more