Values

Over at Unbridled’s blog, publisher Fred Ramsey has an interesting reaction to the recent talk of literary values on this and other blogs.

The LitBloggers’ desire to explain what they value is the same desire that authors have. Indeed, I think it’s the desire the world has now — especially in the face of people who don’t seem to value anything but power. The desire to define values is a desire that motivates a goodly number of readers . . . because it’s important. . . .

What I want to say here is that fiction can break wide open the question of what we value.

Two things here definitely ring true for me. First, the part about literary values being important. Yes. As readers we all develop our own personal tastes, and part of the fun of talking about books is debating my set of literary values against yours. This is very important to me, otherwise I wouldn’t feel like arguing with you about it.

The second thing is the idea of fiction breaking open the idea of what we value. One thing I forgot to mention when when I wrote my post on literary values was that they’re constantly changing. And what changes them? The books I read, especially those occasional, fantastic ones that feel like nothing I’ve ever read before.

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