One of the dilemmas faced by the modern novelist stems from the realization that, in many respects, today’s daily life would be incomprehensible to men of the past. When we read stories from five hundred or eight hundred years ago today, we can easily understand the activities, customs and societies of those times, even though the contrasts are obvious. Planting, harvesting, celebrating, sailing, fishing, fermenting, weaving, riding, praying, building, marrying, painting, playing… all of this is very old and very current, making possible countless scenes and entire books whose meaning will never be lost. On the other hand, modern tasks such as “surfing the internet” or simply operating a computer, something on which one makes a career and spends a lifetime, certainly do not have the same timeless quality. The novelist, looking at them, that is, looking at a considerable part of the material of his time, has to decide how much he can use them, and although he knows that to hide them might be to falsify himself, he experiences the impression that, if incomprehensible to the great men of other times, his story will probably be worthless.
Tag: writing
One of the Worst Mistakes a Writer Can Make…
One of the worst mistakes a writer can make is to produce in order to fit in with a group. The result, almost always, is the sacrifice of what is most valuable to express. So talented, promising minds, pulsing with authentic artistic motivation, give it all up for something that, if summed up correctly, is nothing more than the old desire for acceptance. The biggest problem is that, for the prize of being accepted, the mind sees fit to pay the price of pleasing; however, in art, when you try to please, you do not please, and you certainly corrupt.
A new Divine Comedy will not be made…
A new Divine Comedy will not be made, nor would it make sense to make one, even though it can rightly be considered the supreme model of artistic achievement in literature. In this sense, it must be admitted: the change of the times demands an art that represents it. However, having all the culture of an era condensed there, harmonizing with the manifestation of a very individual conscience which, although it moves in it and expresses itself through it, manages to paint it and judge it at the same time, is a lesson that the modern artist does very well to assimilate. The present time is, and always will be, a unique opportunity. The new is necessary, but it will not be valuable if it is not based on an old and immortal understanding.
A New Orientation Arises When the Writer…
A new orientation arises when the writer realizes and assumes the intellectual heritage of which he is a beneficiary, and which must be manifested through his work. Although not realizing it is difficult, taking it on requires deliberation. Only in this way, by integrating himself into a tradition that precedes him, does he obtain the peace of mind and certainty of working on something that will surpass him. For the modern writer, nothing can do as much good as reversing the egotistical and vain tendency, filling himself with humility and consciously dedicating his life to continuing something that has already begun.