Our love of the literary festival and hearing authors present their Opinions about a Topic springs from the two things. Firstly, philosophy has gone out of fashion and self-help, its shallow, pop art replacement, is unsatisfying for any serious thinker. Secondly, we have fallen out of love with politicians. They are no longer worth listening to about the great issues of the day, and their slick speech, shaped by the big corporations that sponsor them, leaves us yawning and empty. Effectively, we want authors to occupy a role somewhere between politician and philosopher, to offer life wisdom, to weigh up ethical questions, to widen our insights into what it is to be human. There is a paradoxical element to this desire; though we thirst for authenticity, we also desire outer sheen, authors with polished personas, who are articulate and persuasive to listen to, who are easy on the eye. bit.ly/1p7oZdX
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:00:01 +0000
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