Quote:
Originally Posted by NewChief
Just as an aside, I found this brutal quote from Hemingway on Faulkner:
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
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I sort of agree with his sentiment. The thing that frustrates me about Faulkner and Joyce is they show they can write something enjoyable to read with their short stories. You wish they'd give you that in a novel. When you read That Evening Sun by Faulkner or Clay by Joyce, you're like "this is fantastic stuff." Clay is one of my favorite short stories. When Maria leaves out the Balfe verse, I see her as such a real person. In just a short story he makes you feel like you almost know her and everything about her.
Then you try The Bear or Ulysses, and it's like a job. I don't want to work so hard. I understand people say it's a different kind of reward to read Faulkner and Joyce's more ambitious stuff, and that those two are trying to elevate language to a different plane. I just think there's plenty of other fiction I can read, with much less frustration. A calculus textbook is difficult to write, I'm sure. And if you got through all the lessons in a calculus book I'm sure you'd feel a certain reward. It doesn't mean I want to read it.