tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post4203204933763126482..comments2023-09-28T10:59:26.381+01:00Comments on Living, writing and other stuff: Pretentious? Moi?Bill Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07675643113010061969noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post-7920683314340736232009-05-22T14:15:14.128+01:002009-05-22T14:15:14.128+01:00Sheena, I blush. But I also remember the remark ma...Sheena, I blush. But I also remember the remark made by some politician or other about a colleague - 'He has much to be modest about'.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07675643113010061969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post-71504654264273796702009-05-19T23:26:52.701+01:002009-05-19T23:26:52.701+01:00Bill, Bill, Bill...you give yourself away. Try and...Bill, Bill, Bill...you give yourself away. Try and regard Pseuds' Corner as an honour rather than a disgrace. (In other words, it often includes people who really don't deserve the pseud-label - we understand this, so lose that fear!) And...I'd be happy to appear in P'sC. At least it'd mean that some bastard in print was paying my soppy burblings some attention. <br />I sympathise with and share your fear of being seen as pretentious, but that fear can be crippling. Nobody who's ever read any of your stuff (including your blog) could imagine you guilty of that heinous crime. You're not just unpretentious but inordinately modest, so any detractors can feck off.sdbesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03031007678029312846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post-15674119634391204662009-05-05T11:53:00.000+01:002009-05-05T11:53:00.000+01:00Gillian, I'm sorry to report that the orang-utang ...Gillian, I'm sorry to report that the orang-utang and I are no longer on speaking terms. I omitted to tell her that I'd broadcast her condition to the world and, apparently, her vet in Arkansas has been struck off the register and is now only qualified to treat budgies with psoriasis.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07675643113010061969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post-41099116747472790132009-05-05T10:52:00.000+01:002009-05-05T10:52:00.000+01:00Ooh, wow, I do sympathise. A critic has just been ...Ooh, wow, I do sympathise. A critic has just been complaining about the inertia of one of my characters in Crossing The Line. I want to take her by the shoulders and shake her and go 'Did you miss the WHOLE POINT of this girl? Did you not spot what's going on in her internal existence or did you just NOT PAY ATTENTION?' Yes, sometimes you do desperately want to explain all your little subliminal messages, but nobody has that amount of time... do we? Or should we make time...?<br />I was listening to the World Service at 3am, as one does, and there was an author on the Book Club being questioned by a very involved and informed audience. But one young lady asked a detailed q about the significance of doors in the novel, and was the symbolism a difficult thing to get across, and did the whole novel start from the imagery of doors...? <br />To which the bewildered novelist said, 'Doors? What doors?'<br />I don't know what relevance that has, I'm just trying to put off working.<br />And personally, Bill, I can't wait to see what you do with the Hegelian dialectic. Does it involve the orang-utan at all?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387052581086893410.post-64610112599796245262009-05-04T20:27:00.000+01:002009-05-04T20:27:00.000+01:00Life needs humor or we would all go mad. Thank you...Life needs humor or we would all go mad. Thank you for the insights into your psyche and for making me laugh, Bill. I know the feeling of having to explain one of my books. It's like describing and defending one of my children. Either love it or keep your mouth shut. :) Jean Henry (Mead)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08692254239136359941noreply@blogger.com