Day 176.1: Elizabeth Taylor and Litfic
Nov. 9th, 2024 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunshowerdandelionSarah Waters, in her introduction to Elizabeth Taylor's A View of the Harbor, put in how the author was probably unfairly overshadowed and under-read because of her name. Liz Taylor was a famous Hollywood actress, and the author shared a name with the actress, something she might have brought up in another one of her works, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. To this day, when I search for 'Elizabeth Taylor', I get the actress, and nowhere a sign of the author.
I've read A Game of Hide-and-Seek, and Elizabeth Taylor's prose really is rather patient. It's also unsentimental and smooth, which (as Sarah Waters notes) gives an impression of 'artlessness'. I think a lot of British authors give off this impression, especially those that have been described as 'like Chekhov,' the ones I've read anyway. Most of the showy ones I've read have been American or Welsh.
I think this summarizes litfic as a whole. It's always a little reliable, but also sometimes haughty, and often overshadowed. Everyone seems to read the big ones but then very few read the authors who are even a little unknown. On the internet, I've struggled to meet with people who actually read litfic for fun, despite probably everyone reading it. Everyone seems to think it's boring. It's unfortunate that I want to write it.
I've read A Game of Hide-and-Seek, and Elizabeth Taylor's prose really is rather patient. It's also unsentimental and smooth, which (as Sarah Waters notes) gives an impression of 'artlessness'. I think a lot of British authors give off this impression, especially those that have been described as 'like Chekhov,' the ones I've read anyway. Most of the showy ones I've read have been American or Welsh.
I think this summarizes litfic as a whole. It's always a little reliable, but also sometimes haughty, and often overshadowed. Everyone seems to read the big ones but then very few read the authors who are even a little unknown. On the internet, I've struggled to meet with people who actually read litfic for fun, despite probably everyone reading it. Everyone seems to think it's boring. It's unfortunate that I want to write it.
