'It does not matter whether (a writer) writes about any recognisable social or political subject as long as the quality of writing exceeds any such expectations.' Agree/disagree?
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 explores society's decline into enslavement by media, drugs and conformity. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games looks at the romanticism of violence and war as portrayed by the media. John Green's The Fault in our Stars is about life, death and the people they affect.
The first two examples have plots which, arguably, are centered around socio-political messages. The third's plot centres around the inevitability of death - whether we will be loved, remembered, if we will leave a mark on the world. Does this count as a socio-political message? The novel does not particularly deal with the treatment of those suffering from terminal illnesses, so does that mean that it is lacking?
I neither agree nor disagree with the statement at the beginning of this post; if a writer feels strongly enough about an issue in society or politics to want to weave its message into their writing, let them do so. If a writer wishes to write a piece simply about a romance between two people, avoiding any kind of socio-political subtext, that's fine too! Is good writing just about ticking the boxes of what people consider to be 'literary' at the time? I personally believe that if a reader connects with the piece of writing, whether it be 'I enjoyed that book, the characters were enamoring' or 'that book made me think deeply about the state of society' then the writer has achieved their goal.
For some reason, I never thought about The Fault in Our Stars as having a social subject about it. I knew it was about death and I guess I just accepted it for what it was. I don't think it's lacking because of it doesn't go into extreme detail of treatment; probably because no one reacts the same to treatment, so keeping it general means it connects with more readers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say about good writing. If I finish a book feeling emotionally connected to it in some way, then that’s a good piece of writing, no matter what it's about or if it has any social or political agenda to it.
I completely agree with you here. I don't think it matters how good the writing is or whether the author has a socio-political agenda as long as readers engage. And that certainly doesn't quantify success, I mean look at Twilight; a series widely criticised for Meyer's poor writing and yet it has achieved significant success and fame. There was also no message or agenda trying to be fulfilled here, just a story of love and fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI agree. So much of what makes a book/story resonate with the reader is the quality of the writing and not the subject - I've read some utterly boring books about social issues, boring because of the style of the writer not because of the subject matter.
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