11/14

As I was leaving class, Adam said I had him a little worried, suggesting that a fiction writer should be responsible for what she or he writes, the positions that she or he inhabits. Let me be clear: I don't think she or he should be, not even a little. At the same time, I worry that an author who doesn't treat their work as a matter of consequence (even to the extent of worrying about real world consequences of their work: intifada, exile) is an author who hasn't fully engaged with the problem of writing, in this case defined as the problem of trying to understand others.

And as a final note on the writing/reading question, there is ample evidence throughout this book and Coetzee's work generally that the critical movement outside of the self doesn't happen through reading, but writing. And not just writing anything, but writing fiction in particular. This is a position with which, I hope is clear, I fully concur.

For Monday: No reading, no blog. Just an exemplary paper (for those of you who missed class, I've extended the deadline for the paper to class on Monday, November 19th). We're running out of time for revision this term, so let's attempt perfection.