Smay

Av club has this series called Gateways to Geekery which shows what you should know and how you can get into a particular 'geeky' thing. They also had one about Steampunk which might be helpful. http://www.avclub.com/articles/steampunk,30467/ But you could also try the graphic novel, League of Extraordinary Gentleman by Alan Moore.

Hi Everyone, I'm looking for a book by Oscar Wilde that deals with the theme of identity. Something about the English/Irish/Victorian or European Identity of his time. I need this for my thesis about Oscar Wilde and the notion of a modern identity and the modern Self and I would be so grateful if someone could help. Thanks!

I wondered if anyone had finished the book yet?

I love his shoes!

How about Pushing Daisies? And for all the people that like Dead like me, try Wonderfalls. It's from the same maker and very awesome. And another very good example of shows getting cancelled way too soon (there's only one season) And has anyone seen The Middleman? Also cancelled after 1 season, but it's still awesome!

I think it's considerate, not a lack of courage. You want to write something that speaks to a lot of people. And while writing, even though it's something natural, you still think about how people view what you've written. If you have a message you want to put out and no one gets it because your prose is so complicated, I doubt you did a good job writing.

I agree that while writing you shouldn't think about the potential readers too much. But I do think you want to speak to as many people as possible with your art. At least, that would be something I would like to be able to do. But off course there is the possibility that you want to be understood only by those you feel are 'worthy'. And a way of realizing that is by making a book at least a bit difficult to read. You don't need to see Ulysses as difficult or pretentious, but at least admit it's no ordinary book, written for everyone. And it's not even like he used to write. So it might be a masterpiece, but he did alienate a big part of his audience by writing it this way. And as I said, you might be fine with that, but I prefer reading more comfortable stories and I think Nabokov is a great example of that. Art has always been a way for the elite to distinguish themselves from the 'normal' people, and I think Ulysses does an excellent job at this.

I do wonder why you say Art is not meant to be accesible?

I do agree on that. I did read it, but two of my friends started reading it with me and never finished it.

I think this really is a discussion that can keep on going forever. If you love something you'll defend it to the death and if you don't like it, you'll try to convince everyone you were right.