Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Living Literature

The arms of a good story embrace the world. Appreciation of good literature is of universal importance: A good story is the interpreter of the age. It is the song, the dance, the rooted image or fundamental picture, functionally, and man's common cultural heritage, aesthetically.

A good story must reveal the character of the author as well as the character of the story. It must have action, inner and outer, psychological and physical. It must have conflict. It cannot be static, it must move. There must be changing situations.

The story must be meaningful and have moral significance aesthetically expressed. It is the art of words, of language used to show taste and skill through detail; it must have style, have verbal atmosphere, have a technique, which reveals the author's manner of performance.

Good literature must be an organic experience. It must reflect the writer's attempt toward objectivity in principle. The writer must find a proper symbol for his intentions. He must know how to express his ideas indirectly. The writer must stimulate our imagination. He must reveal his sense of proportion. The story must be related to time and space.

It is a victory of form over formlessness, a conquering of obstacles by artistic means.

-- Norman C. Gilkisin

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