tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post732661356782179665..comments2023-10-21T07:44:20.549-04:00Comments on The Existence Machine: Appropriately InsularRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-13842666613360878322009-08-02T04:35:11.858-04:002009-08-02T04:35:11.858-04:00Interesting take, Richard. And I certainly look f...Interesting take, Richard. And I certainly look forward to more examples. Aside from the needless subjective definition that O'Neill is pushed into, I'm fascinated by the prejudice among certain literary types that aesthetics stand above emotional truth, or that one's visceral response to phoniness is cynical.<br /><br />Interestingly enough, China Mieville and I got into this subject in a recent Bat Segundo podcast. He didn't see any distinction between aesthetics and emotion within prose. And these taxonomic distinctions, which I've been just as guilty of at times, do indeed lead one down a patchy post-structuralist path.<br /><br />In fact, it's worth pointing out that Smith herself commended E.M. Forster's midway point between sincerity and disingenuousness in a NYRoB essay late last year.Edward Championhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09551603352009992627noreply@blogger.com