1. If, when I open a novel to a random page, the first sentence I see is "O bitterness, failure and despair!", then I may be led to feel a certain concern about the quality of the reading experience that is to ensue.
2. I am aware that publishers need to economize, but it does not therefore follow that academic books should appear in what looks like a ten-point font. My optometrist may thank you; I, however, will not.
Which novel should we stay away from, then?
Is it the aesthetic quality, the literay quality or both that concerns you?
Posted by: Sir Orang-Outang | September 21, 2010 at 11:26 PM
It's not a novel that most people will stumble upon randomly, let's just say. I may reveal its identity in my year-end roundup post.
Posted by: Miriam | September 22, 2010 at 09:35 PM
Found it! I meant in my second sentence: Is it the aesthetic [or literary] quality, the moral [or philosophical] quality or both that concerns you?
Unfairly, perhaps, I would not expect much reading experience of either kind from a work with such a title anyway.
Posted by: Sir Orang-Outang | September 23, 2010 at 12:06 PM