Kipling Wrote:
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> Your preferences seem entirely subjective, yet you
> use the word "rate," implying a degree of
> objective literary criticism. To "rate" Smith's
> "Vulthoom" above "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis," or to
> "rate" both Lovecraft's "The Strange High House in
> the Mist" and "Cool Air" as "lower"
> (your word) than "From Beyond"...well, those are
> not reasonable critical statements, so one may
> quibble with the words chosen to express them.
> There is an excellent analysis by Cecilia
> Drewer,"The Symbolism of Style in 'The Strange
> High House in the Mist'" (LS 31).
> And "Cool Air" could be compared (favorably) to
> "From "Beyond" as both deal with the mad ambition
> of their central figures.
I think that the lead-off posting makes it fairly clear what we're trying to do:
Quote:Sawfish
By "strength" I mean to convey the satisfaction that you felt as a reader--a consumer of escapist literature--when you completed the story, in relative ordering among CAS's other published stories?
This isn't really looking to see technical competence or superiority, but simply "was it pleasing?", and why.
Did the discussion evolve away from that enough so much that the "ratings" were taken to be an attempt at an
objective justification of value?
To me, no, but then again, that's just me...
--Sawfish
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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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