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An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

theatlantic.com

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Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#21

Post by jacquesm »

sn41 wrote: post #20

Why is there such a complaint? Anonymity is a privilege of the author, isn't it? There are authors who remain anonymous even to this day, one I know is B. Traven, the author of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The precise authorship of individual articles in the Federalist papers is unknown. Also, I believe, if you really want to go that far back, the author of Ecclesiastes is not identified. And then there are know…

They pry because breaking the anonymity is a scoop that they just can't resist. It's human nature to be curious, to be curious about something that people don't want you to know brings eyeballs and media and eyeballs go together like cows and manure.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#23

Post by Nursie »

satori99 wrote: post #5

"After all, as one of the most famous writers in the world today, you are a legitimate subject for inquiry, whether you welcome it or not." Either I am completely out of touch, or this statement is not true. It's probably the former. One of the mentioned novels titles sounds vaguely familiar, but I have never ever heard of Elena Ferrante. I only read this letter because I wondered why an open letter to someone I'd ne…

I've never heard of Elena Ferrante either. I read quite a lot but most of my tastes could probably easily be derided as 'genre fiction'.

I would absolutely argue she has a right to her privacy and anonymity, if that's what she wants.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#24

Post by Scarblac »

avvt4avaw wrote: post #17
vahji wrote: post #13

Ah well. If the absolutely not politised Time magazine has placed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, then the guy you replied to is a dork. No questions asked! ;P

Look at the other people on the list this year. Donald Trump. Cardi B. Hugh Jackman. Satya Nadella. Sean Hannity. Jacinda Ardern. Elon Musk. Oprah Winfrey. You can argue about the exact selection of people. You can say that Time is 'politicised'. But this is clearly a list of people who are very well known. It's not embarrassing to admit that you had a blind spot about a particular author, musician or politician. But…

That's a list of eight names, of which I only recognize four (Trump, Jackman, Musk and Winfrey).

I think the problem is that the world is much more fragmented than we assume it is.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#26

Post by BigChiefSmokem »

soneca wrote: post #7
satori99 wrote: post #5

"After all, as one of the most famous writers in the world today, you are a legitimate subject for inquiry, whether you welcome it or not." Either I am completely out of touch, or this statement is not true. It's probably the former. One of the mentioned novels titles sounds vaguely familiar, but I have never ever heard of Elena Ferrante. I only read this letter because I wondered why an open letter to someone I'd ne…

She is definitely one of the most famous writers today. You knowing about her isn't necessary to making the statement true.

I just saw her claim to fame and none of her literature I would consider mainstream nor famous. The lot of you are wrong to tell the rest of us what is and isn’t famous. Condescending and thinking yoursef somehow better than one who doesn’t agree with you doesn’t make you a better hacker.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#28

Post by superflyguy »

sn41 wrote: post #20

Why is there such a complaint? Anonymity is a privilege of the author, isn't it? There are authors who remain anonymous even to this day, one I know is B. Traven, the author of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The precise authorship of individual articles in the Federalist papers is unknown. Also, I believe, if you really want to go that far back, the author of Ecclesiastes is not identified. And then there are know…

Salinger has certainly got this reclusive business down to a t - nobody's seen or heard anything from him for a good 8 years now.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#29

Post by icebraining »

avvt4avaw wrote: post #17
vahji wrote: post #13

Ah well. If the absolutely not politised Time magazine has placed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, then the guy you replied to is a dork. No questions asked! ;P

Look at the other people on the list this year. Donald Trump. Cardi B. Hugh Jackman. Satya Nadella. Sean Hannity. Jacinda Ardern. Elon Musk. Oprah Winfrey. You can argue about the exact selection of people. You can say that Time is 'politicised'. But this is clearly a list of people who are very well known. It's not embarrassing to admit that you had a blind spot about a particular author, musician or politician. But…

I live in the EU, which is quite Americanized by any standard, and I'd bet nobody around me would recognize the name of Sean Hannity (or Nikki Haley, another name on the 2016 list). That list just seems hopelessly parochial to me.
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