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Chargement... The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novelpar Steven Pressfield
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. In this work, what might be called a pamphlet, [a:Steven Pressfield|867|Steven Pressfield|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1298914893p2/867.jpg] tells the story of how he wrote [b:The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life|158725|The Legend of Bagger Vance A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life|Steven Pressfield|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172274117s/158725.jpg|1711117]. The work is interesting on a number of levels. First, it explains, in some detail, how Pressfield conceived of Bagger Vance and recreated the Hindu scriptural epic, Bhagavad-Gita. The protagonist, Rannulph Junuh, is also based on a character in the Hindu text, Arjuna (recreated as R. Junuh). Second, the work tells the story of Pressfield's love of golf, and his idea about "the authentic swing", something "remembered" rather than learnt, and recalling [a:Saint-Exupéry (de) Antoine|8507950|Saint-Exupéry (de) Antoine|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.This process of stripping oneself away to reveal the true self recalls [a:James Allen|8446|James Allen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1226296187p2/8446.jpg] and [a:Kempis Thomas|16783548|Kempis Thomas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], but Pressfield presents this in an accessible form. Third, the work provides guidance for writers, specifically of fiction novels, but the process can apply equally to any style of writing. While the work is short, and there are entire pages devoted to only one short paragraph (making the book thicker than it need be), there is much below the surface of the iceberg that can be easily missed if this is the only work of Pressfield's one has read. It pays to have read [a:Aristotle|2192|Aristotle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1390143800p2/2192.jpg] and the other aforementioned authors, not because one needs to to understand Pressfield, but because Pressfield brings it all together like a folk song. Read [a:James Allen|8446|James Allen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1226296187p2/8446.jpg] and then [a:Kempis Thomas|16783548|Kempis Thomas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and one will see the connection. It is not the same, not just copied, but enlivened. That is what makes this pamphlet, and, indeed, all of Pressfield's shorter works, worthwhile. Ostensibly about how to write, The Authentic Swing is really about how to reach creative fulfillment in whatever you do. Like everything Pressfield writes, I love it. Still, if you've not read The War of Art, I suggest starting there. Unless you REALLY loved The Legend of Bagger Vance, in which case, start here. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
If you've read his books THE WAR OF ART and TURNING PRO, you know that for thirty years Steven Pressfield (GATES OF FIRE, THE AFGHAN CAMPAIGN etc.) wrote spec novel after spec novel before any publisher took him seriously. How did he finally break through? Ignoring just about every rule of commercial book publishing, Pressfield's "first" novel not only became a major bestseller (over 250,000 copies sold), it was adapted into a feature film directed by Robert Redford and starring Matt Damon, Will Smith, and Charlize Theron. Where did he get the idea? What magical something did THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE have that his previous manuscripts lacked? Why did Pressfield decide to write a novel when he already had a well established screenwriting career? How does writing a publishable novel really work? Taking a page from John Steinbeck's classic JOURNAL OF A NOVEL, Steven Pressfield offers answers for these and scores of other practical writing questions in THE AUTHENTIC SWING. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)808.3Literature By Topic Rhetoric and anthologies Rhetoric of fictionClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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From the book, about 16% of the way in:
Which is not an uncommon philosophy. People have been justifying killing and war since killing and war began, which is to say, since we evolved the capacity to articulate these concepts in language.
All good writers eventually stumble on their heritage, the vast body of text that proceeds them. The problem here is that, as with so many, Pressfields awareness is cirmcumscribed by a particularly destructive parochialism. Contrast this with another well-know philosopher:
Which is actually one of this philosopher's more tepid responses to violence. Consider:
…or…
And lest you think I'm cherry-picking philosophers here, choosing an obscure philosophy designed to support my position, understand that the above quotes come from the second-most translated book on the planet. I'm speaking of the Tao Te Ching.
And what of Pressfield's second philosophy? This is his theory of art, which he gets right more than wrong. And it is the reason that this is a review of a four-star book and not a one-star book, because ultimately we have to judge a book of philosophy — which this one is — on it's philosphies alone.
The author's problem is that he conflates the two philosophies. An artist doing battle with his art is an artist involved in a noble stuggle. It is ultimately a battle of self-conquering. But this must not be confused with batttling others. This leads to the glorification of force, of trying to conquer others. This path leads one direction and one direction only: to destruction, violence and mourning.
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