I read a TIME article last week that posed the question "Who's the voice of this Generation?" It went into how throughout the years, authors have put out work that seemingly defines that generation, yet right now there is no real voice for people in the new millennium. It traces F. Scott Fitzgerald to Hemingway to Salinger to Kerouac to Heller to Vonnegut and mentions a few people I have never really heard of as the later generation comes along.
I never really thought about this before, but I guess its true. Most authors now days right drivel, and the few that don't are either underappreciated or way to specialized to be considered our "Voice". They did mention two awesome writers that I personally read as candidates for the voice, but their age sort of keeps them out of the running.
It is interesting to think that throughout the last 100 years we have looked at a generation by the novels they read. Books like The Sun Also Rises and On the Road helped define their perspective time periods. Yet now it seems that The DaVinci Code and The Atkins Diet sell more that introspective books. I linked the article below.
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1209947,00.html
I guess when it comes down to it, we really won't have our own "Voice". Certain people will connect with one writer, while others will discover someone completely different. Our world has evolved past having one "Voice". We are just too different. Instead, we have to carry on a "Conversation".
That is all,
Newt
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
What a Novel Idea!
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2 Ripples in the pond:
Interesting article. I nominate you, Newt, to become the voice of our generation. At any rate, I find you insightful. At times. At other times you're just silly.
Sadly, I think that books just aren't wide-spread enough for that to be the medium of the "voice of our generation." I think that it is probably easier to find film stars and musicians that are a better fit for the monicre and that has been the way since the 1960s. I mean people definitely remember, say Bob Dylan than they do an author from that age and his music motivated people much more. However, with the way of mainstream music today, I fear that we are in the same "voicelessness" that our generation is with authors, unless of course you count Jessica Simpson as the voice of this generation, which scares the crap out of me!
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