4 votes

Why Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, considered his magnum opus to be a 1,150-page cookbook

3 comments

  1. [3]
    The_Fad
    Link
    It's always confused me why society as a whole tends to label their "favorite" book of an authors as said author's greatest work, regardless of the author's input. It comes off as presumptuous and...

    It's always confused me why society as a whole tends to label their "favorite" book of an authors as said author's greatest work, regardless of the author's input. It comes off as presumptuous and a little callous; as if to say, "Your art's worth is equal exactly to the worth we give it", which from an artistic perspective is a little backward.

    1. [2]
      nacho
      Link Parent
      The piece an artist is most satisfied with doesn't have to be the one everyone else values the most. For the artist, the process and commitment, reception/success, memories they have from that...

      The piece an artist is most satisfied with doesn't have to be the one everyone else values the most.

      For the artist, the process and commitment, reception/success, memories they have from that part of their life and surrounding events, and all sorts of things impact their view of the work itself.

      I'd say it's just as legitimate, if not more reliable to see what works withstand the test of time in the view of many.

      To me it doesn't matter what a poet says the content of a poem is. What matters is what I think of it myself, whether that's enhanced or reduced by knowing or not knowing the context, author's interpretation, how the work is transformed as a song lyric or whatever else.

      3 votes
      1. The_Fad
        Link Parent
        We'll have to agree to disagree, then.

        We'll have to agree to disagree, then.