Comments on: A Case for the Larger Canvas http://www.edrants.com/a-case-for-the-larger-canvas/ a cultural website in ever-shifting standing Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jenny D http://www.edrants.com/a-case-for-the-larger-canvas/comment-page-1/#comment-3798 Jenny D Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:34:56 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=1967#comment-3798 Very sensible post. The comments thread at Mark's has got way too heated for me to join in there! I love, love, love long novels--I read "The Time of Our Singing" in about 2 sittings over 24 hours, it is a fantastically good read, just as "David Copperfield" or "Bleak House" can almost be read in one sitting if you have the time and space for it. I am a big fan of "A Suitable Boy," too, though it's regularly slammed by the poco lit crit folks for reasons I don't quite understand. And you know, a lot of the best new novels that are also bestsellers are very long, which suggests that many novel-readers enjoy length in itself (the long novel is like, say, a season of The Sopranos in its satisfactions): think of Neal Stephenson, Susanna Clarke, Elizabeth Kostova (all of whom I admire). Very sensible post. The comments thread at Mark’s has got way too heated for me to join in there! I love, love, love long novels–I read “The Time of Our Singing” in about 2 sittings over 24 hours, it is a fantastically good read, just as “David Copperfield” or “Bleak House” can almost be read in one sitting if you have the time and space for it. I am a big fan of “A Suitable Boy,” too, though it’s regularly slammed by the poco lit crit folks for reasons I don’t quite understand. And you know, a lot of the best new novels that are also bestsellers are very long, which suggests that many novel-readers enjoy length in itself (the long novel is like, say, a season of The Sopranos in its satisfactions): think of Neal Stephenson, Susanna Clarke, Elizabeth Kostova (all of whom I admire).

]]> By: tito http://www.edrants.com/a-case-for-the-larger-canvas/comment-page-1/#comment-3787 tito Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:58:35 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=1967#comment-3787 In the article, the editor is quoted as saying - "What was missing was something that I knew he already knew was missing," Ms. Collins explained - the leap into what, from her childhood or whenever, haunted Sor Juana and eventually forced her into her vow of silence. "I told him, 'You can't not go there.' And that's how it got longer." I wonder why we have to know what led to this vow? Can nothing be left unwritten? Apparently not... In the article, the editor is quoted as saying –

“What was missing was something that I knew he already knew was missing,” Ms. Collins explained – the leap into what, from her childhood or whenever, haunted Sor Juana and eventually forced her into her vow of silence. “I told him, ‘You can’t not go there.’ And that’s how it got longer.”

I wonder why we have to know what led to this vow? Can nothing be left unwritten? Apparently not…

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