And a post by rpeate

[conuly]

Because I don't want to retype anything, I'm linking directly to my reply.

While I disagree with him, his view on criticizing people seems thought out, so I thought I'd link to it here to see what other people say. Say nicely, I mean, I did promise to be respectful and all.

And I have a question, which I didn't think to ask him directly: How does one know if something is "great"? How can you say you recognize greatness if you don't define greatness?

I don't define it at all, so I don't have this problem, do I? I even refer to Alexander the Pretty Good.

Comments

[conuly]

1. You haven't read her books.
2. I know my writing has some serious flaws. Massive ones, in fact. Knowing this doesn't make me a great writer. Would that it were the case....

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

I said "talented". She knows enough to see her own fallibility. I then defined greatness in a writer as I see it, which is not based on knowledge of fallibility. I get the impression you just don't want to respond to what I've said.

Regardless, I know greatness when I see it. I have read enough of her work to know she is great. It's the same with Shakespeare. I have read less than ten of his plays, but I am sure the ones I haven't read are great too. I think what disturbs me the most about your comments is that you think one cannot tell in 50 pages whether someone is a great writer or not. Well, perhaps you cannot.

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

"Fewer" than ten. And that mistake does not lessen my greatness as a writer.

[conuly]

If she were a great writer, you would've finished at least one book. You really can't judge within 50 pages if somebody is a great author. You simply *can't*. Among other things, people's skills vary. She may have been greater then than she is now, for example. But you don't know. You are trying to argue that you can judge her writing when, as you haven't read it, you cannot.

You're perfectly correct when you say I don't want to "respond to what you've just said". And I won't want to respond until you have read at least one book, the entire book, of hers. I don't discuss books with people who haven't read them. That is foolish, at best.