Arquivo de literature | Page 99 of 111

Spreadsheets, Spreadsheets…

It amazes me that the world has existed for so long without control spreadsheets. Sometimes I refuse to believe it, but backwards from the 1980s — at least — people lived without spreadsheets. My brain locks up: how? Impossible! And I convince myself that by deleting my spreadsheets, my home would immediately catch fire. There is no routine task that does not require a spreadsheet: from shopping at the supermarket to accompanying readings. Controlling the weight, the level of body fat is very important. The movies watched, the monthly cash flow, the portfolio of assets, the hours in language study, the special alcoholic beverages consumed over the years, the planning of daily physical exercises… all these are mandatory spreadsheets, essential to life. There are others, several others. And I am amazed at this: how to write a book without a spreadsheet? If I was to prepare a guide detailing the writing process, the first and obligatory step would be: create a companion spreadsheet, list the planning of the chapters, define their average length, and only then think about what to write. I would even say that, in many cases, the spreadsheet is previous to the idea or, still, the idea is only possible with the spreadsheet. Strange world…

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The “Masterpieces of Genre Fiction”

Someone asks me what I think of the “masterpieces of genre fiction”. Strange question. I have never considered masterpieces from such a perspective. I mean: a masterpiece is so — or not — independent of its literary genre. But the question opens the door to an interesting reflection. What has been conventionally called “genre fiction” does not seem to have won the respect of critics. But criticism is usually unfair with everything new. Literature, however, is always on the move — and worse for the critics who do not follow it. On the other hand, the popularization of “genre fiction” owes much to the fact that these works, in general, are written with the reader in mind. Writing with the reader in mind is an extremely effective method of producing poor work. But how garbage has always been successful among the public! Therefore, as far as “genre fiction” is concerned, caution is needed. Under no circumstances does a literary genre impose limits on the quality of an artistic work, so several works of “genre fiction” will overcome the barrier of time and become classics — some, in fact, have already done so… However, the artists of this literary genre will walk for a long time on a narrow line: loved by the public, despised by the critics, having to deal with the tyranny of success that can, in fact, destroy their artistic quality. It is necessary to have the courage to place art as queen and to be indifferent to the public’s desires…

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Hatred Consecrates More Often than Love

It is curious to note that hatred consecrates more often than love. And it is curious to note how human stinginess initiates and closes the arc of the artistic work: it motivates aggression and whips the aggressor. I wonder if there is art among angels. Perhaps. But being man as he is, earthly art can never be different from what it always was. And envy and hatred will be forever, on earth, the medals awarded to the progenitor of great art.

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The Desire for Agreement

Few instincts are as pernicious to social relations and especially to the personality of the artist as the desire for agreement. Firstly, because this is a manifestation of vanity. Secondly, because of the natural implications: useless discussions, free antipathies and strengthening of attachment to one’s own ideas. All this is poison for someone who wants to cultivate friendly relationships and, worse, to give rise to artistic work. Living with the dissident is not only mandatory, but the world is better because two people do not think alike. And about the artist: what does he have to do with the opinion of others or with his own opinion? Wishing to agree will make him an egocentric, blinkered, inclined to use art to adorn his own convictions. As an artist, he will inevitably fail, since the desire for concordance is a stain that, in contact with art, impregnates and does not come out.

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