http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2006 by the authors Mon, 9 Oct 2006 09:48:57 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/23/183830.php#comment-454088 wonder what defines 'high literature'? just finished reading 'a suitable boy' and had read 'sacred games' a few weeks back. how one can compare them just on the basis on the no of pages beats me. rather stupid. 454088@blogcritics.org Mon, 9 Oct 2006 09:48:57 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/23/183830.php#comment-449584 Mayank, you're entitled to your own opinions--as am I--but I just thought I should clarify that when I said I read 'A Suitable Boy' in 'short bursts', that meant chunks of 300 to 400 pages at a time, viz. in a single reading session. Perhaps there are readers who can read the entire 1359-page book at one stretch without interruptions but I'm not one of them. Apart from that one minor kibble though, I still think 'A Suitable Boy' is a gentrified Trollopian monstrosity that collapses under the weight of its own elegance. (Incidentally, Seth's own model for the book was Anthony Trollope, not Austen or Dickens, so it's surprising that you don't mention this fact. 'A Suitable Boy' has far more in common with Trollope's quietly melodramatic upper class soap operas than with the far more ambitious Dickens or even the more restrained and comedic-manner Austen.) Also, it certainly doesn't follow that I didn't like the book, just because I critiqued it harshly. I also enjoy the latest airport bestseller at times; I just don't rush to defend its status as high literature. :~) Happy reading--and re-reading! 449584@blogcritics.org Sun, 1 Oct 2006 02:06:57 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/23/183830.php#comment-446966 This article has been selected for syndication to <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/newslogs/bookreviews"> Advance.net</A>, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work! 446966@blogcritics.org Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:53:20 EDT