July 2nd, 2018 - The First World
Dear TNY,
Another Monday, another story. This time it’s “The First World”. I have no real, aggressive, rant-inducing beef with this story, though. It was disappointing, as per your usual shit. But I did read all the words and paid attention.
I think this story is another case of weak editorial interjection on your part. The one thing that works in this story is being in the scene with Arty and the Narrator (I cannot recall if he has a name and I’m not tracking that down). The bar scene was good. The author performs storytelling, taking a boring story and making it interesting. But that falls apart because the author also decided to include an aside about the Narrator’s face-forgetfulness as well as large swaths of summary of what was transpiring in the bar instead of allowing the reader to witness it. Did that save me time as the reader? Yes. Did it considerably diminish my interest in this story? You bet your fucking ass it did. So, TNY, why do you insist on summary? It’s fucking your stories up.
Two more things and I’m done. The first is vocabulary/phrasing. I love the line “whistling dark”. Jealous. Wish I had written it. And I love that the author of this gives two shits about the vocabulary of the reader, and has peppered this piece with big dollar words (but consistently (kind of) such that it only seems weird once or twice). There were enough kernels of authorial talent sprinkled through the long summary sections that kept me reading. Just an FYI, could have done with more of that.
The other thing, and it’s fucking exhausting now, is your insistence on an agenda. You’re dumbing down the timelessness of literature by fixing it in space. And by accepting lower quality work as long as it addresses an agenda you want to push. And that’s fucked.
Nope, small rant coming. I’ve been having this conversation lately with fellow writers of my ilk. This conversation is how do we get more people, specifically more young people, to read? Not just to read the trash novels that are stocked in supermarkets, but to read real hard boiled literature. And at the top of this short story game, you have a literary magazine that is selling shitty stories that do not offer universal themes. No no, you offer niche agendas that don’t actually unite us, cause us to question, force us to see a different perspective. Nope, you have the opposite effect when you rub the agenda in our faces. You aren’t a beacon of diversity. You are polarizing, alienating, and disruptive. Back to the conversation, we can’t get young people to read more literature, thereby exercising their empathy, thereby making the world a better place, when you shove problems into their face that they may or may not be a part of nor do they have the means to fix. You have become the antithesis of a literary magazine. You have become a biased media outlet. When you run agenda stories, you are propagandizing literature and are as useless as CNN or FoxNews. You disrespect art, TNY. I’m reminded of a line from the main character from Stephen King’s (who you publish often) magnum opus: You have forgotten the face of your father.
But hey, you’re selling some magazines, right? Way. To. Go. (Cue slow clap).
Please listen. Just once. The future of humanity is at stake. That’s all. Just that trivial thing.
Nick
