Jonathan Franzen: 'Twitter is the ultimate irresponsible medium'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/07/jonathan-franzen-calls-twitter-irresponsible?INTCMP=SRCH
"It's hard to cite facts or create an argument in 140 characters … It's like if Kafka had decided to make a video semaphoring The Metamorphosis. Or it's like writing a novel without the letter 'P'… It's the ultimate irresponsible medium."
I wonder at his word 'irresponsible':
lies? distortion? warping our use and sense of language? a waste of time?
Perhaps, but these are often true of more verbose and televised media.
Jami Attenberg heard Franzen speak at Tulane University, and the above is one of the quotes she garnered from the talk. There were other quotes, plus a counter-argument that young, budding, unknown writers need Twitter and other social networking devices, whereas he, Franzen has an established reputation and a publicist and can ignore the needs of the hoi polloi.
His collegiate look and decent leather accessories may also work for him.
Whatever works.
Nothing to do with my sense of responsibility: I don't use Twitter because I'm too ADD to enter the Twittersphere--I'd end up doing nothing but tweet and run.
But maybe I'll take a stab at that novel without the letter 'P'....
There's a fine tradition of this sort of thing in France. Bonjour OULIPO.*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/07/jonathan-franzen-calls-twitter-irresponsible?INTCMP=SRCH
"It's hard to cite facts or create an argument in 140 characters … It's like if Kafka had decided to make a video semaphoring The Metamorphosis. Or it's like writing a novel without the letter 'P'… It's the ultimate irresponsible medium."
I wonder at his word 'irresponsible':
lies? distortion? warping our use and sense of language? a waste of time?
Perhaps, but these are often true of more verbose and televised media.
Jami Attenberg heard Franzen speak at Tulane University, and the above is one of the quotes she garnered from the talk. There were other quotes, plus a counter-argument that young, budding, unknown writers need Twitter and other social networking devices, whereas he, Franzen has an established reputation and a publicist and can ignore the needs of the hoi polloi.
His collegiate look and decent leather accessories may also work for him.
Whatever works.
Nothing to do with my sense of responsibility: I don't use Twitter because I'm too ADD to enter the Twittersphere--I'd end up doing nothing but tweet and run.
But maybe I'll take a stab at that novel without the letter 'P'....
There's a fine tradition of this sort of thing in France. Bonjour OULIPO.*
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo
