Writers are schmucks

by Saleem - March 11th, 2007

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The Guardian has, in its Saturday Review, a running feature of “Writers’ Rooms”, photo and description. Its effect is entirely other than intended: we see the absurd vanity and self-indulgence of novelists. Consider today’s, J.G. Ballard, having detailed the ancient desk at which he writes long-hand, then transcribes an electric typewriter. “I distrust the whole PC thing … I don’t think a great book has yet been written on computer.” And so, the usual refrain, that everything needs to be done differently. Especially the writing of books!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under extras. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Writers are schmucks”

1. nemoDreamer says:
   March 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

   What a silly remark, Mr Ballard…

2. Dorian Gray says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 1:01 am

   Is it not rather a refrain that everything should be done the same as it always was? Even though I love my PowerBook I empathise with this nostalgia for simpler times. I’d think twice before making a one-way journey to 1965 (by the way, I hope we’ve all seen Wong Kar Wai’s 2046), but why should I not take what was beautiful from that era and combine it with the more moral society we live in today? In fact, I do just that. I buy most of my music on vinyl (everything from Pachelbel to ephemeral pleasures like Cansei de Ser Sexy; did I just out-Mogogo Mogogo with that last one?) and take my photographs with Kodachrome and a fully mechanical camera. A certain kind of artist* has always been concerned with the process. It may be a little self-indulgent, but it’s not illegal, immoral or fattening so we should probably indulge them too.

   By the way, I find Ballard’s room to be an oppressive horror that reeks of Colonialism, but I won’t begrudge him his typewriter.

   * Ralph Gibson, for example: “Digital photography seems to excel in all those areas that I’m not interested in. I’m interested in the alchemy of light on film and chemistry and silver. When I’m taking a photograph I imagine the light rays passing through my lens and penetrating the emulsion of my film. And when I’m developing my film I imagine the emulsion swelling and softening and the little particles of silver tarnishing.”

3. Saleem says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 10:29 am

   I think we need to sit down the fully digital Original Sin and the fully celluloid Dorian Gray - and look how their names run parallel, too! - and watch a good solid pugilistic mash-up.

   I am feeling renewed sentiments for my Minolta SRT-101, but it needs servicing. Now that the light is back, I must use it.

   And as for Ballard, I don’t begrudge anyone their process. That which works for a person, works. And as I mentioned, I too have a softness for celluloid; further, I make much greater use of pen and paper than might be otherwise thought. My criticism is regarding not his process, but his lack of openness to another one.

4. nemoDreamer says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   she arrival of digital ease makes us forget our hands… i’ve traded in my mothers Nikormat and my 2 wonderful Leicas for a Nikon D50. now i take carp-loads of photos, but do i savor each one? i know i spend just as much time getting everything in the shot just right, but does the picture mean as much to me?
   since diving into interactive media design, my sketchbooks remain largely untouched, my style has stagnated and frustrates me.
   as in everything, we need to find a balance, to keep ourselves motivated and challenged. the good old days before plug-and-play.

   (i inherited my Leicas from my grandfather. and R4 and this beauty!!! you wouldn’t believe the delicious shutter-sound…..)

5. Ballardian: the World of J.G. Ballard » Ballard Backlash x2 says:
   June 13th, 2007 at 7:41 am

   […] Saleem, at The Neocrats: The Guardian has, in its Saturday Review, a running feature of “Writers’ Rooms”… Its […]

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Writers are schmucks
Saleem | 11-3-07 | 5

The Guardian has, in its Saturday Review, a running feature of “Writers’ Rooms”, photo and description. Its effect is entirely other than intended: we see the absurd vanity and self-indulgence of novelists. Consider today’s, J.G. Ballard, having detailed the ancient desk at which he writes long-hand, then transcribes an electric typewriter. “I distrust the whole PC thing … I don’t think a great book has yet been written on computer.” And so, the usual refrain, that everything needs to be done differently. Especially the writing of books!

Bookmark: