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Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.
Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com
Hmmm. I agree that often my favorite books are the ones where I don't actually notice the writing. I love singers like Bobby Darin and Dean Martin who make singing seem easy. I love movies that feel real instead of contrived.
ReplyDeleteBut I also love writers like Chandler and Hemingway and Fitzgerald who make me marvel at the way they wrangle words.
So... hmm.
Hamlette,
DeleteI think of it as the second "art" being in the other sense of the word (i.e. "mechanics"). So meaning, "The perfection of art is to conceal the mechanics, the effort, the choppy mess, etc." So in the end the finished art could be more subtle or overt, but it should seem seamless and effortless -- never heavy handed on the part of the author (or screenwriter or singer or whatever). Not at all to say we can't revel in the beauty of it. (That would be the whole point, right??) I think the idea is we never want a reader finishing a story, for instance, and seeing us. The perfection of art is in pointing to the beauty itself. That's how I interpret it anyway. :) Does that make sense?
And you said, "...the way they wrangle words." Love that! :)
That does make sense. More like, "The perfection of art is to conceal artifice."
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