Oh good grief.

[prog]

Whether it's Bradbury saying something cranky or Rowling saying something saucy, the author's interpretation of their own story or characters is worth no more than any other reader's take-away.

I mean, it's definitely worth talking about, and if you find yourself agreeing with the author about it, that's cool. But to then go on and say "Aha, this definitively means that Character X had Attribute Y", I say poopie upon you.

If I ever design a yuk-yuk T-shirt (besides the Volity ones) it will be themed around the slogan AUTHORIAL INTENT IS FOR SUCKERS or something.

Comments

[radtea.livejournal.com]

I disagree, and have struggled to put my disagreement into words for a sufficiently long time that I've gotten around to remembering that I am breaking my rule about not arguing with people on the 'Net. So I'll stop now, except to say that you've sparked a lot of interesting avenues of inquiry in my mind, and I really appreciate that.