Poetry / Novels

[Monki]

When in secondary school we had to study poetry and books and look at "hidden meanings".

Do you think authors put hidden meanings into their books or is it a load of rubbish created by literature academics to justify their jobs?


For example:

"Ian ate an Orange"

and the teacher would have told us about how the orange represented the sun or an Oompa Loompa or something silly!

What are your thoughts?

[V8mate]

My vote's on the oompa loompa

[Justayellowbadge]

Get to the clinic now, it won't clear up on it's own.

[Mc Lovin]

Dont be gay.

[Davi]

falls under the category of "Art Critique" and is therefore utter, utter gumpf.

A fact born out by me having a poem published when I was about 9

[SirTainly]

yeah like all that rubbish about Animal Farm really being about Communism in Russia!

Edited by SirTainly on Tuesday 7th October 13:54

[Sciroccology]

I know what you mean. When studying Mr Shaky-Spear at school, I did wonder if he had written his plays what he wrote in order for them to be dissected by 16 year-olds, 400 years later.

I doubt it.

[Monki]

I did study French Literature and my lecturer was a big fan of Baudelaire. One of his poems was about talking clocks, the world rolling around and the sky hurting his head with the moon mocking him......I actually found out that he enjoyed Opium and suggested he was high as a kite rather than writing creatively didn't go down well!

Glad to see others wonder if disecting a piece of literature is what was intended. I did do it a little with LotR and found that the relationship between Frodo and Sam may have been a little more than "friends"

[wadgebeast]

I think it's usually pretty obvious with metaphors and books - the whole james joyce and ulysses thing for instance. It's usually more subtle and deliberate with poetry.