http://www.radioopensource.org/a-911-literature-follow-up/ Christopher Lydon in conversation on arts, ideas and politics Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:09:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.radioopensource.org/a-911-literature-follow-up/#comment-78154 tbrucia Thu, 14 Sep 2006 03:16:03 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/a-911-literature-follow-up/#comment-78154 "I would expect to find the effects of September 11 in any number of works of fiction that on the surface have nothing to do with the attacks themselves." Moreover, the readers of post 9/11 fiction are changing... I just finished reading two chapters of Qutb's 'Milestones' a few minutes ago, read Orhan Pamuk's 'Snow' a few months ago, and read Karen Armstrong's biography, 'Muhammad' before that... I would never have read any of these without the 9/11 event. If writers have to take into account their readers' interests, knowledge, and experiences -- and they do -- fiction must move into new areas. It did during the Cold War when John LeCarre's 'Smiley' series became legendary, just to name one example, and it is doing so again! “I would expect to find the effects of September 11 in any number of works of fiction that on the surface have nothing to do with the attacks themselves.” Moreover, the readers of post 9/11 fiction are changing… I just finished reading two chapters of Qutb’s ‘Milestones’ a few minutes ago, read Orhan Pamuk’s ‘Snow’ a few months ago, and read Karen Armstrong’s biography, ‘Muhammad’ before that… I would never have read any of these without the 9/11 event. If writers have to take into account their readers’ interests, knowledge, and experiences — and they do — fiction must move into new areas. It did during the Cold War when John LeCarre’s ‘Smiley’ series became legendary, just to name one example, and it is doing so again!

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