/lit/ - Literature

>>2051575
I might volunteer sometime in the future, if TAR is really hurting. There are a lot of things about it, from the perspective of the contributor/reader, that I feel could use changing and indeed would be changed if only there was someone to change them. Like not replying to submissions until the zine is posted. I don't imagine TAR gets an ungodly amount of submissions, so acceptance/rejection e-mails shouldn't be so hard to pull off. Maybe I could even lrn2pdf and put the electronic version back in business.

I don't know. Responsibility scares me. I'm going to go reread Infinite Jest and take my anti-depressants with some chai tea.

Taste in literature is subjective. Now, hold on a moment. I said taste, as in 'what people enjoy' in literature. Of course a lot of whinging faggots will say that their favorite works are -objectively- better than works they like less so, and then we have all these arguments and whatnot.

I think an important element in this debate is the parameters against which the works are judged. In any argument, all parties should establish definitions for terms they can all agree on. If one person thinks books are meant solely to entertain then their entertainment is the only qualification a piece has to meet in order to be great in their eyes. Another may think more critically about literature and decide that one piece is better than another based on the complexity and demonstration of mastered techniques. If these two people were trying to decide which novel of two is better, they would almost certainly disagree.

It's crucial that we establish our bar for greatness, because then there are quantifiable aspects to the novel or story or whatever that can be discussed in a more reasonable way in order to achieve a consensus.