An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
theatlantic.com
An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
1–10 of 88 posts
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#2An interesting read, though I find the constant cries of sexism somewhat annoying, as they don't really seem to add any substance to the text other than legitimizing the authors subjective impressions, which, as far as I am concearned, don't need any lagitimization in the first place.
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#3I’ve never seen anything in an “open letter” format that didn’t sound like it was written by an asshole.
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#4I’ve never seen anything in an “open letter” format that didn’t sound like it was written by an asshole.
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Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#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."
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 never heard of was posted to HN.
* [edit] Having said that, I completely agree with and respect her right to remain anonymous, whether she is influential through her writing or not. I also completely agree with the assertion that a book, or indeed any work of art or performance, exists totally independently of it's author once published or performed.
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#6An interesting read, though I find the constant cries of sexism somewhat annoying, as they don't really seem to add any substance to the text other than legitimizing the authors subjective impressions, which, as far as I am concearned, don't need any lagitimization in the first place.
The problem is that doubts about sexist and other -ists and -isms have become weaponised in our culture today. it doesn't even matter WHEN you said something or whether you apologised for them as kevin hart's case has shown. his case is even more egregious since he was obviously appealing to the comedic social context of the time.
better start caring before someone uses your lack of care against you
edit: downvotes without rebuttals on an comment like this are a data point in themselves i think
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#7"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.
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#8"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 consider myself a reasonably well-read person. I read often and fast so I manage to get through a decent number of books, mostly novels, each year. I don't stick to any particular genres and can sensibly discuss anything from Shakespeare to Harry Potter.
I think I might get on with this author because I don't think about the authors of the books I read much at all. I have next to no interest in their personal lives or their circumstance -- only their stories. I remember the names of authors who impress me, but that's about it.
In any case I know about Her(Him?) now, so I guess I'll see if she's any good.
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#9"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'm pretty well-read, although not really in the "general literary" genre. And I also only heard about her a few months ago.
That said, the person who introduced her to me made it quite clear that Elena Ferrante is extremely well known, and was shocked that I hadn't heard of her. And I've seen then somewhat confirmed this - she is indeed pretty famous (e.g. this article).
So I understand the boat you're in... let's just consider ourselves today's lucky 10,000 :)
(And no, I haven't read her book yet, but I'm planning to).
Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are
#10I’ve never seen anything in an “open letter” format that didn’t sound like it was written by an asshole.
There are some good open letters by shareholder activists, especially if you understand the broader context: Pensioners enjoying meager dividends while management getting fat paychecks.