Mar 18, 2025
"𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝: 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭."
- 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟎
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"𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝: 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭."
- 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟎
When we are happy, we are always good.
But when we are good, we are not always happy.
-The Picture of Dorian Gray (by Oscar Wilde)
Lewis Carroll: The Complete Works, "Sylvie and Bruno." 1889.
That was an emotional rollercoaster of a sentence.
the definitive ranking of pulp! the classics covers and summaries, from worst to best
(Note: Pride and Prejudice was not included in this list, as there were only poster and greeting card options for the work, and not an actual book or summary. Had a book and summary been provided, it would have ranked lowest for unoriginality. It’s literally just 1995 Colin Firth staring moodily at you. The caption is “Lock Up Your Daughters...Darcy’s in Town!” which is just unfortunate, frankly, and honestly laughable.)
16. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
You take a novel that’s positively overflowing with drama and give it THIS cover? THIS summary? Absolutely uninspired.
Here’s looking at you Cathy...
Childhood sweethearts turned star-crossed lovers, fuelled by bitter jealousy and dark revenge. She’s pretty and posh, he’s a moody brooding bastard. Heartbreak, alcoholism and plenty of illegitimate kids – it’s a perfect Northern drama.
Where is the feeling? The screaming violins playing as we read? The moors? The time skips? A hint of the positively bonkers plot that only a Bronte could compose?
15. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Oh, the heterosexuality of it all. On an Oscar Wilde novel, no less.
Hey girl...I’d sell my soul for you!”
Dorian Gray might be as pretty as a picture, but he's paid a devilishly high price for it. He'll stay drop-dead gorgeous, but there's something nasty festering in the attic...
Pretty as a picture and still lusting after ladies? Please. Pulp! Classics, you can do better.
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Again, we must speak the ancient chant: Oh, the heterosexuality of it all.
When it came to loving...He knew which Daisy to pick!
Sorry old sport, but Gatsby has a bigger house than you, prettier friends than you and a Rolls Royce to cart them all round in. To a backdrop of popping champagne corks and orchestral jazz, our hero bids to buyout his old adversary, perennial jock, Tom Buchanan and reclaim Daisy, his favourite bit of High Society totty.
Nick Carraway gets not one mention, which is odd given that he’s the narrator, the protagonist, and Gatsby’s most ardent love interest. Also strange is the cover’s insistence that Jordan Baker, known lesbian, would swoon over Gatsby. Doubly strange is how tiny the women are in comparison to Gatsby’s massive frame. What is, again, bamboozling, is how the slogan on the cover seems to imply that Gatsby knows how to pick a woman. He doesn’t know how to choose anyone, let alone love them. All Gatsby truly knows is the desperate pursuit of a fruitless dream.
Classics Enigma
Society has evolved into technological machine that consumes and mass produces everything from items and ideas to music, literature, movies and art. All that converts it into informational Gargantúa that amasses on its path huge data, sensations and emotions.
The more information and variety of stuff is generated, the less interesting it becomes as a result of losing its uniqueness, becoming too popular and common. Could it be the reason behind classic works being as appreciated for their heritage value or are they really so very distinctive by their contents and psychological impact that makes them as valued - from literature to music and arts?
Nonetheless, modern civilization, specially technologically trained young generation, does not appreciate these works as much as their grandparents do. As a result it becomes the paradox: on one hand classics are underappreciated by modern generation on the global scale, because they may consider it old-fashioned and unpractical, while none of the modern popular works may be classified and authentically valued as classics - mostly due to the negative effect caused by mass production and competitiveness among its creators, but not as a result of different epoch in which we live.
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How to Criticize Famous Authors
If you’ve ever discussed literature in an academic setting, you’re probably aware of the fact that people are very reluctant to seriously criticize famous works and authors. A great deal of time is often spent accentuating the positive aspects of popular writers, but we don’t spend much time on the negatives.
The problem with this is that it leaves students ill-prepared to tear down their idols. This might not seem like that much of an issue, but one of the ways a solid becomes a great writer is by attempting to overcome the weaknesses of their literary influences. For example, while Shakespeare is deeply indebted to his contemporary Christopher Marlowe’s villains—monstrous, larger than life characters like Barabas and Faust—his greatness isn’t in reproducing the characters in his own work, but improving on their flat characterization and lack of humanity with more complex characters like Shylock and Prospero.
This sort of evolution would be impossible to achieve without the ability to recognize the flaws in works that you genuinely love and admire, so one of the key abilities of any writer must be the ability to tear apart your idols, find what works, and leave the rest behind. And while this might seem hard at first, there are a few things writers can do to help themselves look at the stories they love with a more critical eye.
Criticize a Work as If You Were Revising
First, always treat a story you’re criticizing as a living work that you’re revising. Read passages aloud and mark where they feel awkward or stilted; think of what pieces you would cut if you were in the author’s position; and above all else, be honest about places where you find yourself bored. Treat it as savagely as you would your own work and you’ll be finding things to criticize in no time.
The other thing to remember is that to find an author’s weaknesses, you should always start with their strengths. Does the author use beautiful descriptive language? Do they have an ear for natural dialogue? Does the story show a real command for narrative structure? Once you understand the strengths of a work, you can easily restate them as a weakness. An author with beautiful descriptive language can be “too concerned with the external world and not concerned enough with the inner world of their characters”, excellent, naturalistic dialogue can become “a bunch of talking heads”, and a mastery of narrative structure can be nothing more than “predictable and formulaic stories”.
Criticize What Doesn’t Make Sense
Finally, think about the things that don’t make sense or that you don’t understand. The natural tendency is to dismiss or ignore these parts, we’d much rather think about the parts we love, but these can be some of the greatest sources of narrative criticism. Focus on these aspects of the story with a laser-like intensity and ask yourself why they bother you or why you don’t understand them. This should naturally lead to questions that can strike to the very heart of the story.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to accentuate the positive in literature. Deconstruction can be a tiresome task if it’s done without purpose. However, if you pull apart a story to strip away the unsightly bits and find the beautiful pieces of machinery that make it work, you’ll become a bit closer to stepping past your influences and developing your own voice and style.
That’s all for our discussion on managing influences. Next time, we’ll take a look at some of the tools of the trade and how they can help and hurt your own writing process. Until then, stay safe and keep writing!
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