Om litteraturens kommersialisering

"It’s possible that the fact that literature has been commercialized now in a way it never was before has had an influence. That is, the fact that people now talk about “bestsellers,” that fashion has an influence (something that didn’t use to happen). I remember that when I began to write, we never thought about the success or failure of a book. What’s called “success” now didn’t exist at that time. And what’s called “failure” was taken for granted. One wrote for oneself and, maybe, as Stevenson used to say, for a small group of friends. On the other hand, one now thinks of sales. I know there are writers who publicly announce they’ve had their fifth, sixth, or seventh edition released and that they’ve earned such and such an amount of money. All that would have appeared totally ridiculous when I was a young man; it would have appeared incredible. People would have thought that a writer who talks about what he earns on his books is implying: “I know what I write is bad but I do it for financial reasons or because I have to support my family.” So I view that attitude almost as a form of modesty. Or of plain foolishness."

Läs hela texten ur en intervjubok med Borges. Så roligt för alla oss som skriver, vare sig man håller med eller ej. Själv gillar jag att han säger att litteratur är psykologi och handlar om individer. Nåt att lyssna till i struktur-rafsets tidevarv.

Och därmed säger jag hej och farväl och tack för de här sju åren, till Argusbloggen. Vi hörs igen, på de sju haven.
  
Jorge Luis Borges on Writing: Wisdom from His Most Candid Interviews

“A writer’s work is the product of laziness.”