02-10-2005, 08:05 PM
Oh, I'm used to wincing, believe me 
Nonetheless, Gord's book is indeed fluff---the *poetic* equivalent of bubblegum pop lyrics, which is to say that Gord's book is to meritorious poetry as Britney Spears' lyrics are to Gordon Downie's. Maybe not quite that bad, but you get the idea.
But I think Skippy raises an interesting point, which is that songwriting has supplanted poetry, taken over the social space and role that poetry used to fill. At the turn of the 20th C, educated people all read poetry...now, they get the same hit from the Gord Downies and (in deference to Skippy's wonderful photo of a snarly Bob) Bob Dylan. And almost nobody reads poetry. Or so I'd argue.
I would also argue that Skippy's 'quantitative' approach to culture is a bit odd, and that one CAN meaningfully say that work X is grossly inferior to work Y. Whether or not we enjoy doing this is another matter, but it's a valid exercise.
Come to think of it, this egalitarian embarassment at simply calling a piece of crap a piece of crap may be one reason why people feel perfectly validated for living out lives marked by the consumption of appalling mediocrity.
I'll stop editing my post now :roll:
Nonetheless, Gord's book is indeed fluff---the *poetic* equivalent of bubblegum pop lyrics, which is to say that Gord's book is to meritorious poetry as Britney Spears' lyrics are to Gordon Downie's. Maybe not quite that bad, but you get the idea.
But I think Skippy raises an interesting point, which is that songwriting has supplanted poetry, taken over the social space and role that poetry used to fill. At the turn of the 20th C, educated people all read poetry...now, they get the same hit from the Gord Downies and (in deference to Skippy's wonderful photo of a snarly Bob) Bob Dylan. And almost nobody reads poetry. Or so I'd argue.
I would also argue that Skippy's 'quantitative' approach to culture is a bit odd, and that one CAN meaningfully say that work X is grossly inferior to work Y. Whether or not we enjoy doing this is another matter, but it's a valid exercise.
Come to think of it, this egalitarian embarassment at simply calling a piece of crap a piece of crap may be one reason why people feel perfectly validated for living out lives marked by the consumption of appalling mediocrity.
I'll stop editing my post now :roll: