Is literary writing degrading owing to the 'democracy' of publishing?

Question

This is not a 'snobbish' question. Just looking for some informed opinion. I consider myself above average in detecting the quality of a writer's style--maybe because I had a job for two years micro-analyzing the work of writers like V. Woolf, J. Baldwin, E.B. White, Joan Didion: in other words, writers who are considered masters of prose. I also learned a lot from my family who were naturally gifted as writers. Question is--and it doesn't matter if you think the writers I've cited are masters of style--is the audience for 'quality' writing diminishing? Are books like Hannibal and DaVinci Code--albeit they have good stories--the prototypes for what will be considered 'good' writing by most people? Is 'quality writing' going the way of theatre as an art form? There's a line from a Paul Simon song "Is the Theatre Really Dead?" I'd say it basically it. What about literary writing? Is it appreciated outside of a few literature professors who specialize in the stuff?

Answer 1

LIterary writing will always be in bookstores, but maybe off to the corner and in a smaller section. I have a degree in Interior Architecture. I understand how valuable square footage is in retail space. That square footage has to be balanced off against what it costs to rent and maintain and turn a profit. Can you imagine Barnes and Noble devoting front table space to books of poetry? Or are they going to go for the kill -what sells? For every book of poems they sell, they probably sell a couple thousand high body count James Patterson's. Who are they going to give that valuable space to? You and I may both disagree and mourn the loss of literary writing, but stores have little choice. Overhead, salaries, benefits, rents, insurance ... Emily Dickenson isn't paying all of those for the Barnes and Noble Superstores - James Patterson and Dean Koontz and the others are.

So a store has to learn to judge the market and make the best use of their space. This has nothing really to do with the democracy of publishing. It has everything to do with capitalism.

Same thing goes with Theatre. In NYC, an orchestra seat to a Broadway show currently goes for over 100 dollars. Producers go for the splashy musicals and big hit revivals - things they know people will see. In the little theatres, shows like Moon and Sixpence and The Iceman Cometh do not do a quarter of the business The Lion King does - even with stars the likes of Kevin Spacey and Brian Denehey.

You gotta go with what sells, baby. People like books like Da Vinci Code and Hannibal, and given the options of movies, TV, video games and the internet. quite honestly I think those of us who make our livings with the written word are doggone lucky anyone is paying any attention to us at all. So I will save my esoteric poetry for my hard drive and keep churning out the thrillers.

Pax-C

Answer 2

Hm--sounds like a pretty snobby question to me. Years ago they used to have a concept known as the "fine writing" style--wherein anyone sufficiently mumble-mouthed and vague could lay some claim to literary accomplishment. Nowadays all that stuff seems as dated as (indeed) it should be. A while back I remember somehow making my way through an old and impossibly sleep-inducing anthology of New Yorker stories, collected when Hemingway was all the rage; it proved a most wearisome task. Meanwhile Mark Twain goes on, hearty and vigorous as ever; a vigor which is matched by many of the last century's science fiction and mystery writers (and by Salinger's Catcher). Oh, and by the way--in my opinion Woolf is frequently impenetrable, and Joan Didion is as dull as a rice cake.

Answer 3

To get to your question posed in your header, I'd say that the degradation of literary writing has squat to do with democracy and very much to do with capitalism. Listen. Publishers are in the business to make money, and you can't make money publishing "great" works of literature that nobody today will buy. Way back when, publishing was a "gentleman's" business, run by rich guys who had tons of family money and could afford to take a loss on producing really fine works of literature. Of course, at that time there were far fewer books, and those who read books tended to be more literate (and literary) than people today (for real!), so in reality many of these publishers didn't lose all that much money. That's not the case today. Plus today you have publishers owned by mega-conglomerates who have ulterior agendas--push this political agenda, that TV show, this line of thinking. It's no longer books for books' sake. (Although it could be argued that, in the 1600s-1700s, it also was not books for books' sake. Shakespeare had benefactors; what he wrote was great, but it wasn't necessarily in line with his own personal views. On the other hand, the World Wide Web SHOULD have been a haven for great literature--anybody can publish anything! But unfortunately, that hasn't really panned out. (See "capitalism" and "the degradation of literacy in Amerca").

Answer 4

Love your question; at first I was going to ask you to define democracy for me, but all the details have changed my mind. You analyzed some of the best writers ever. I just came off of an in-depth study of E.B. White myself.

And I do think the amount of quality books is dwindling, because the publishers are going for the fast buck a little more than usual.
As for quality writing: who is to say really, so much rests unpublished...
I remain interested in new quality writing for which I can survive on a couple of magazines, but they don't even publish unsolicited stuff, so it's all the editors' calls.

Anyway enough said. Thanks for your post, it was most interesting! A star for you--

Answer 5

Mooshie and LKJ - you are right on it. We've bred a population (at least in the US anyway) if individuals who don't want to think. They just want to be entertained without using any more brain cells than necessary. Guess we can't blame the publishers; they print what sells. TV for the masses started the atrophy of the human mind. I'll never be a great writer but I pray that others who are, continue to write and maybe someday the tables will turn.

Answer 6

Publishers print what they calculate will sell to the largest number of people, and quality be damned. In my long life, both literature and all the media have been shamefully dumbed down.Controversy, sensationalism, violence and sex attract readers and viewers. Add some religion or racial tension to the plot, and you've got it made. Yes, the audience for quality writing is diminishing, and very quickly. I once got a "violation" reported by a young girl who was angry at me for suggesting that she do her own homework, which involved reading a newspaper.She sent me two nasty e-mails,one stating that at 14 she was too young to read the news. I was flabbergasted. Without an in depth perusal of our universe, which is available in any library, I believe that we are fated to be just like Plato's cave dwellers. What a waste of human potential it is to dwell in darkness, mistake shadow for substance, and never be the wiser.

Answer 7

I wonder if the blame can't be laid squarely on the shoulders of society -- particularly Dr. Spock who started the idiotic leveling of the playing field mentality, a mindset that saw our schooling systems and discipline dumbed down to its current stage.

There remains a fairly large group of people who read and enjoy literature but the availability of works is dwindling fast because the market is narrowing.

Merely an opinion.

J.

http://www.jrichardjacobs.net

Answer 8

Uneven writing, muddy plot, and not one of the characters particularly captured my sympathy - specifically the protagonist. Seems find it irresistible would have used an editor and plenty of elements had been nearly downright plagiarized from previous authors. I additionally inspiration it had a pompous tone. But it is well for a couple of laughs and has a couple of exceptional moments. two one million/two stars

Answer 9

I wouldn't quite say literary writing is dead--since I write a varied version of it myself.

None of my books are commercially-driven, so it gives me greater flexibility to work things as I see fit. :0)

Answer 10

... A mediocre market demands a mediocre writer...?