just let this thread die

[mordenkainen]

...

[A_Non_Ymous]

Favorite: "The Visitor," by Langdon Jones.

Least liked: "The Naked Stranger," by that "Newburg" fellow.

Most promising new author: Duncan Crosier

Least promising: that "Newburg" fellow again.

LSN

[mordenkainen]

I edited my post to prohibit voting for or against oneself

[David Mosley]

How long will this poll remain open for? It's just that I've been too busy to actually read much of PX-1 so far but I was planning on savouring it all when I go on holiday next week. :oops:

Mind you, with all the other stuff I'll have to read at the same time (hopefully going to get a whole bunch of Moorcockiana for my birthday, which occurs at the start of the holiday) it will probably take me the entire two weeks to finish it.

[A_Non_Ymous]

I edited my post to prohibit voting for or against oneself

Maintenant, je suis faible?

C'est dommage.

LSN

[mordenkainen]

Je ne suis pas certain d' utiliser correctement le mot :?

[A_Non_Ymous]

Tu l'as utilisأ© correctement. Tant pis pour moi.

LSN

P.S. Sorry everyone, but we have temporarily converted MWM to francophone-only mode.

[nalpak retrac]

Um, I wonder. With the cultivation of literary talent (and magazine-making talent) being our primary goal, rather than poling peoples’ simple “favorites�, let’s identify specific characteristics within the various works, and explain why we find these things interesting. This sort of approach to discussion and criticism should, at this stage, be most useful to the authors.

[A_Non_Ymous]

That would be okay with me.

LSN

[A_Non_Ymous]

Do you want to take the lead here, Carter? Get things started with an initial critical / literary sortie?

LSN

[nalpak retrac]

I need to take it all in. It is more impressive than the impressive draft Perdix showed me. Thinking of my first look at Wyndham Lewis's BLAST. I'm kind of taken aback. Something is going to come of this.

In general: P-X is a significant bit of work. In an earlier discussion (I think it was the one that arose when my students questioned the propriety of creating a print version) I formulated the notion--sort of an expectation--that P-X would be something a person could take with them somewhere--to the seashore, to the mountains, to the tree house, to the subway, to the museum--and enjoy a unique session of reading, imagining, dreaming. Home cooking. Something you couldn't get from the bookstore at the mall. Now thumbing through it, P-X looks like a point of departure for this kind of reading.

I can't quite tell where we're at politically. Which is cool.

And off I go.

[A_Non_Ymous]

It is different, there's no question about that.

Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be a "house" style. The mix is incredibly eclectic, and no one's work resembles that of anyone else. This is unquestionably a strength.

Personally, I respond on the aesthetic level to the prose at its best. For this reason, the Langdon Jones piece left a definite impression on me. Sorting out personal reactions into critical appraisal will take a little time.

What's sort of scary is that I think we can all do better, individually and as a magazine.

LSN

[mordenkainen]

Um, I wonder. With the cultivation of literary talent (and magazine-making talent) being our primary goal, rather than poling peoples’ simple “favorites�, let’s identify specific characteristics within the various works, and explain why we find these things interesting. This sort of approach to discussion and criticism should, at this stage, be most useful to the authors.

That is of course one of the the purposes of this thread. I thought of starting a poll-and-discussion thread on each piece separately but that could be a bit too much...40ish threads 8O

[Whiskers]

Um, I wonder. With the cultivation of literary talent (and magazine-making talent) being our primary goal, rather than poling peoples’ simple “favorites�, let’s identify specific characteristics within the various works, and explain why we find these things interesting. This sort of approach to discussion and criticism should, at this stage, be most useful to the authors.

That is of course one of the the purposes of this thread. I thought of starting a poll-and-discussion thread on each piece separately but that could be a bit too much...40ish threads 8O

Could we persuade each contributor to start a thread for the kind of review we are thinking of? It might be true that not everyone who contributed has an interest in criticism of their work. Speaking for myself, I'm dying to give my back story and thoughts about my own contribution. It might also be true readers are disinterested in these clarifications. Could criticism detract from some of the work?

[L'Etranger]

Friends,
I strongly object to the idea of our contributions finding themsrelves in a kind of competition all of a sudden. That was never the concept and in my experience doesn't do any good for creativity. It quickly leads to would-be contributers sending in only what they think has a chance of beating all other entries and not what they feel like expressing. Or you get a subconscious copying of "successful patterns". I'm against that.
We did it for the spirit and good fun, but not to enter a race. Mordenkainen, kindly take my contribution out of your list. Thanks in advance.
No offense meant, ok?