Book! you lie there; the fact is, you books must know your places. You'll do to give us the bare words and facts, but we come in to supply the thoughts.
King: I have nothing with this answer, Hamlet; these words are not mine.
Hamlet: No, nor mine now.
Hamlet: No, nor mine now.
Todd: You do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself around. You turn yourself around. That's what it's all about.
BoJack: Yeah, I don't know if the songwriters put that much thought into the existential significance of the lyrics; they literally rhyme "about" with "about".
Todd: But isn't the point of art less what people put into it and more what people get out of it?
BoJack: Yeah, I don't know if the songwriters put that much thought into the existential significance of the lyrics; they literally rhyme "about" with "about".
Todd: But isn't the point of art less what people put into it and more what people get out of it?
When I left the politicians, I went to the poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts. And there, I said to myself, you will be detected; now you will find out that you are more ignorant than they are. Accordingly, I took them some of the most elaborate passages in their own writings, and asked what was the meaning of them - thinking that they would teach me something. Will you believe me? I am almost ashamed to speak of this, but still I must say that there is hardly a person present who would not have talked better about their poetry than they did themselves. That showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them.
— Plato, Apology of Socrates
Every fiction should have a moral; and, what is more to the purpose, the critics have discovered that every fiction has.
For the Third World to have allowed itself drifted by such pontification as Barthes’ would have meant the production of literature without the values of meaning. (…) if colonial texts propagated justification of the sentiments of colonialism, it would just be logical in the imagining of the colonized, say India, to express its own counter-sentiments. Therefore, origin, which implies history, memory, representation, passion as well as society─ all features denied by Barthes─ must play an important role in the identification of the Third World literature. The import of this is simply that the author from this part of the world must remain alive to convey meaning to his people.
— Senayon Olaolua in the essay, The Author Never Dies: Roland Barthes and the Postcolonial Project
There is an impression abroad that literary folk are fast readers. Wine tasters are not heavy drinkers. Literary people read slowly because they sample the complex dimensions and flavors of words and phrases. They strive for totality not lineality. They are well aware that the words on the page have to be decanted with the utmost skill. Those who imagine they read only for "content" are illusioned.
—Marshall McLuhan
I don't know who wrote this essay, but he obviously doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut!
— Dr. Turner on an essay written by Kurt Vonnegut, Back to School
All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet — it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
As for our intentions, well, that's all bunk. We may intend our music for one person or another, but who's to say? I can't decide who reads my novel or buys my record. Look what that did for Jonathon Franzen, who snubbed Oprah for liking his book. It's an arrogant, imperialist motive to try to determine who will receive you and who won't.
The artist usually sets out — or used to — to point a moral and adorn a tale. The tale, however, points the other way, as a rule. Two blankly opposing morals, the artist's and the tale's. Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of a critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.
— D.H. Lawrence
...authors seldom understand what they write. That is why we have critics.
— James Hurst, on being asked what his short story "The Scarlet Ibis" was about.
The critic on the morning paper said of my first play: "Inept." The critic on the afternoon paper said: "Drivel." Both reviews totally misunderstood the play. The critic on the morning paper said of my second play: "Pretentious." The critic on the afternoon paper said: "Abhorrent." Both reviews totally misunderstood the play. The critic on the morning paper said of my third play: "A Smash Hit!" The critic on the afternoon paper said: "A Triumph!" Both reviews totally misunderstood the play.
They are now misunderstanding to my advantage. In the arts, that's known as success.
They are now misunderstanding to my advantage. In the arts, that's known as success.
— Jules Feiffer cartoon.
What it comes down to is my interpretation of my work is really immaterial. I'm not really a believer in art or music being institutionalized or put in galleries and stuff like that. I think art is something for the use of the public. It's for the public to interpret it, and to use it almost like a sustenance to life. It's the interpretation of the listener or the viewer which is all-important.
The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.
— Roland Barthes, "The Death of the Author"
I love it when someone tells ME what goes on in SotS... I find it so educational.
— Martin "Mecron" Cirulis
The beauty of music is that it's so open to the interpretation of the listener. I've said over and over again that the intent of the writer is so much less important than the interpretation of the listener.
— Michael Stipe, R.E.M.
"Books belong to their readers."
— John Green, often enough that he's started abbreviating it to BBTTR.
"I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."
— J. R. R. Tolkien, foreword to The Lord of the Rings
"... What "Birth of a Nation" offers, even more than a vision of history, is a template for the vast, world-embracing capabilities of the cinema. It provided extraordinarily powerful tools for its own refutation. The real crime was not Griffith’s, but the world’s: the fact that most viewers knew little about slavery and little about Reconstruction and little about Jim Crow and little about the Klan, and were all too ready to swallow the very worst of the movie without question. They saw only what Griffith wanted to say but not what the movie showed, and, upon seeing what Griffith showed, were ready to take up arms in anger."
— The New Yorker critic Richard Brody about The Birth of a Nation (1915), The Worst Thing About “Birth of a Nation” Is How Good It Is
Personally, I take no satisfaction in imagining meaning where there is none. I’m not the type to stare at orange blotches on a canvas and ponder the universe. Either it's got solid, intelligent ideas embedded in it, or it's nonsense. Subjectivity isn’t a virtue. If my theories are wrong — if Kojima would fully acknowledge and shoot down what I've written — I would lose most of my respect for the game. The interpretation is key, because there's a world of difference between a masterful metafiction disguised as an incoherent mess, and an incoherent mess that tries and fails to be a masterful metafiction.
"While you might be right, it doesn't invalidate any of the analyzing being done. Creator's intent doesn't matter that much in such matters. Everyone is free to interpret art as they want."
— A comment in {Errant Signal}'s review of Hotline Miami
The bard leaned back, retrieving his tankard. 'It begins with you,' he said. 'And it ends with you. Your eyes to witness, your thoughts alone. Tell me of no one's mind, presume nothing of their workings. You and I, we tell nothing, we but show.'
— Steven Erikson, upon being asked how to interpret his Magnum Opus, answered that the cypher to it was hidden in Toll the Hounds, which is presumed to be this passage.
"I would love to live in a world where Dancer Taking A Bow wasn't painted by a vicious anti-Semite, where Imagine wasn't written by an inveterate wife beater, and where Annie Hall wasn't directed by a monstrous child rapist!"
— Kyle Kallgren, encouraging this trope during his vicious take-down of the "Authorship Question" and its instigators in his review of Anonymous
Sure, lots of people rejected previous bits of Doctor Who in the Wilderness Years, but this was basically the first time that a book had the unanimous response of 'thanks but no thanks.' It wasn’t some active campaign or a conscious, authoritative decision or anything like that. It was just a moment where the breaking point of Doctor Who fandom became clear. This was a bridge too far. Official license and BBC logo on the book or not, this was clearly not canon.
—Dr. El Sandifer on War of the Daleks
on War of the Daleks (...) I think that's especially important with a film like Blade Runner, which is, as a work full of symbolism and style, much more than just about, ´´What does this mean?´´, but rather, ´´What does this mean to me?´´ To you, when the windows blocks out the sun it might symbolize another aspect of Tyrell's godlike powers. To me, he just prefers Smart Windows over blinds.
As a film just shy of thirty years old there's also the fact that changes in culture can affect what we see and interpret. As time moves on any work of art can say something to us today that differs greatly from what the author way trying to say at the time. Does that mean that we're mistaken in what we hear or is it valid to say that the echoes of our own thoughts, values and fears is as much a part of what we take away from art as the imagery itself. If what was said is not the same as what was heard, does that mean that the emotion felt, the thought provoked, the impetuous planted, are wrong?
I don't think so. As long as we distinguish between what the artist said and what the art said to me, the difference between: ´´I see this as a representation of femininity´´ versus ´´Thus the artist is a misogynist´´.
What directors—especially the good ones — put into their films is different from what comes out of the viewing of those films. Directors are an authority on the former, which is why an interview with a good director is almost always worthwhile. But, when it comes to the experience of watching a film, the director doesn’t know any more or any better than the average viewer. One great director who understands this is Jean-Luc Godard, who discussed the matter with me when I interviewed him in 2000. We were talking about "La Chinoise," his 1967 collage-like drama about a cell of young Maoists in Paris and their inclinations toward political violence, which, I thought, he filmed with a significant degree of critical distance. He agreed, but said that, at the time of the filming, his critical perspective was 'unconscious,' adding, "My unconscious was right, but it's the cinema that was right...often what the auteur says is even less right, because the auteur is in what he does, not in what he says."
What I remember most vividly was the time I had the temerity during one of the rehersals to suggest a different phrasing to one of the pros. She lowered her violin, turned to me and said icily, "We usually prefer it when the composer is dead."
— Peter Schickele on his early composing days at Swarthmore.
Juan Oregon, a man from Alicante (Spain), 47, announced last Friday that he was terminating the process of writing his first novel, which he has been working at since last January. The novel he has written is "Light in August", the immortal work published in 1932 by American author William Faulkner.
"It is his first novel and he writes ‘Light in August’ by William Faulkner, nothing more, nothing less," the proud wife of this administrative assistant said to the press. Oregon, which has been already stated as the great promise of the Spanish letters, began his literary activity “unpretentiously" earlier this year.
"For Faulkner this was his seventh novel, however my husband has written it at his first try," insists the wife.
"Look, he could have written any work of Terence Moix or anyone else’s mediocrity, but no, he goes and writes a novel by Faulkner, William Faulkner. I love Faulkner and in this country we all feel genuine devotion by Faulkner," the woman reiterated, sparing no praise for her husband, who was something flushed.
The book, which is identical, word for word, the translation of "Light in August" Peter Leucona did for Goyanarte publishing in 1952, and that is being currently published by Alfaguara publishing, could mark the narrative of Spain just like Faulkner determined the evolution of American literature.
"The novel is exceptional, truly exceptional, something out of the ordinary," says Antonia Cifuentes, editor of Catedra publishing and one of the few people who had access to Juan’s manuscript.
According to her, the novel is as good as the one written by Faulkner but with the added value that a Spanish man has been able to write the "Great American Novel" without leaving Alicante.
"It is his first novel and he writes ‘Light in August’ by William Faulkner, nothing more, nothing less," the proud wife of this administrative assistant said to the press. Oregon, which has been already stated as the great promise of the Spanish letters, began his literary activity “unpretentiously" earlier this year.
"For Faulkner this was his seventh novel, however my husband has written it at his first try," insists the wife.
"Look, he could have written any work of Terence Moix or anyone else’s mediocrity, but no, he goes and writes a novel by Faulkner, William Faulkner. I love Faulkner and in this country we all feel genuine devotion by Faulkner," the woman reiterated, sparing no praise for her husband, who was something flushed.
The book, which is identical, word for word, the translation of "Light in August" Peter Leucona did for Goyanarte publishing in 1952, and that is being currently published by Alfaguara publishing, could mark the narrative of Spain just like Faulkner determined the evolution of American literature.
"The novel is exceptional, truly exceptional, something out of the ordinary," says Antonia Cifuentes, editor of Catedra publishing and one of the few people who had access to Juan’s manuscript.
According to her, the novel is as good as the one written by Faulkner but with the added value that a Spanish man has been able to write the "Great American Novel" without leaving Alicante.
"I have a rule that, even if I say something, 'it ain't canon if it ain't in the comic'. Therefore, it's technically canon that it's uncertain whether the TF gun had any impact on Elliot's level of comfort while a girl. This is in spite of the fact that I am typing right here and now that, in Elliot's case, that's just how Elliot is, and how Elliot would be even if the TF gun didn't do a single thing to help people adapt to new forms.
But that's just speculation on my part as the author of the comic."
But that's just speculation on my part as the author of the comic."
— Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive [1]
"So is Sausage Party worth your money? Eh... just the movie, excluding all the behind the scenes bullshit."
— MarsReviews
"If you find something [in my lyrics] that fits your life or situation you're in, that makes it true."
— Ville Valo explaining why he writes vague lyrics open to interpretation
"If so, how am I to assure myself that I am not reading my own meaning into it, but yours out of it?"
Why should you be so assured? It may be better that you should read your meaning into it. That may be a higher operation of your intellect than the mere reading of mine out of it: your meaning may be superior to mine.
"Suppose my child ask me what the fairytale means, what am I to say?"
If you do not know what it means, what is easier than to say so? If you do see a meaning in it, there it is for you to give him. A genuine work of art must mean many things; the truer its art, the more things it will mean. If my drawing, on the other hand, is so far from being a work of art that it needs THIS IS A HORSE written under it, what can it matter that neither you nor your child should know what it means? It is there not so much to convey a meaning as to wake a meaning. If it do not even wake an interest, throw it aside. A meaning may be there, but it is not for you. If, again, you do not know a horse when you see it, the name written under it will not serve you much. At all events, the business of the painter is not to teach zoology.
Shazam: Orson Scott Card? J. K. Rowling? These are your favorite books, Dad. Why are you giving them away?
Mike: They're pretty hateful towards gay and trans people and actively work to make their lives worse. I don't wanna support that anymore.
Shazam: Can't you just separate the work from the author?
Mike: Some people probably can, and I've sure tried.
Shazam: What changed?
Mike: I realized "separate the work from the author" is easy for me to say when I'm not one of the people they dehumanize.
Mike: They're pretty hateful towards gay and trans people and actively work to make their lives worse. I don't wanna support that anymore.
Shazam: Can't you just separate the work from the author?
Mike: Some people probably can, and I've sure tried.
Shazam: What changed?
Mike: I realized "separate the work from the author" is easy for me to say when I'm not one of the people they dehumanize.
"Whatever someone feels from a work of art, no matter what that work may be, ultimately comes down to the individual."
— Yusuke Kitagawa, Persona 5 Strikers
"In part because of the common misconceptions regarding Lovecraft and sex, a number of different views of Lovecraft’s sexuality have emerged in the critical literature. While biographical details would tend to support a view of Lovecraft as essentially heterosexual, other interpretations of Lovecraft’s sexuality can be valuable for understanding particular critical interpretations of Lovecraft’s fiction, and in some cases for specific fictional characterizations of Lovecraft that are based of these views of his sexuality."
— Bobby Derie, "Great Phallic Monuments: Lovecraft and Sexuality”
"There is no "death of the author" (that Parisian cliché) in my worldview. Authors strive and create against every impediment, including their doubters and detractors."
— Camille Paglia, Break, Blow, Burn
"Now, keep in mind, I don't think 'Death of the Author' applies given how I was the original author, but whatever, enough time has passed. Past me's opinions don't matter anymore."
