[B5JMS] Attn JMS: taste; was: various bounced replies from jms

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "M.E.Tonkin" <met314 at erols.com>
Date: 27 Feb 2001 05:17:44 -0700
Lines: 25



Jms at B5 wrote:
> 
> > Now THAT's unfair.  Christian authors writing for Christian readers are
> >> under no obligation to start off each and ever oeuvre with an apologia
> >> for the sake of non-Christian readers.
> 
> Except, of course, that much of his stuff is marketed as straight-ahead fiction
> or speculative fiction, such as Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That
> Hideous Strength and Till We Have Faces.  I don't see The Lion, the Witch, and
> the Wardrobe being sold in stores as specifically Christian literature.  It's
> in the fiction section along with everything else.  So the premise that he's
> writing only for Christian readers seems a little false to me.
> 

So, you're saying that Milton's *Paradise Lost* should be shelved in the
Christian
section of the bookstore, rather than in poetry or classics?  How about
Graham Greene's *The End of the Affair*, or Susan Howatch's "Starbridge" novels,
or Gail Godwin's *Evensong*, or the popular novels and mysteries by Andrew
Greeley?

MET


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 27 Feb 2001 16:10:40 -0700
Lines: 38

>So, you're saying that Milton's *Paradise Lost* should be shelved in the
>Christian
>section of the bookstore, rather than in poetry or classics? 

No.  Please do not put words in my mouth, I have enough trouble with the ones
that get there on their own.

I did not say, or imply, any such thing.  

For starters, the two aren't comparable in that Lewis always tended to see his
work as subtle proselytization...I don't think that Milton or the others you
note saw their works in quite that light.  So right off the top you've pitched
out a false analogy.

Second, I have NO PROBLEM with Lewis being in the straight fiction area, nor
did I every say I *did* have a problem.  All I said is that when going into his
books, it helps for a reader to be aware of his predilections in terms of
analyzing the straw-man approach he takes to his intellectual discourse as it
approaches religion and other thematic elements.

Are we now clear on this?  Are you going to toss any more boogeyman arguments
out there that have nothing to do with what I *said* but everything to do with
what you *want* me to say so that you can stomp around indignantly, incensed at
something that doesn't touch the reality of what I actually believe or said at
any two contiguous points?



 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)




-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Replies to messages go to the list maintainer,
-*** <b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu>.  If you want to reply elsewhere, adjust
-*** the "To" field.  See http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~ezk/b5jms/ for all
-*** other information about this list.