365 Day Blues
I started this blog one year ago to the day at the suggestion of a friend. (Bish, if you haven’t yet guessed that I’m PrufrockTwo, my apologies.). I’d been putting it off for the longest time – content to read excellent blogs such as this one – and then jumped into a first post for no worthwhile reason other than a slack day at work.
Three hundred and sixty-five days and 630 posts later, it’s time for reflection. Most of my posts are, as even a cursory glance will show, merely a series of links to sources of literary news, reviews and interviews – sometimes accompanied by a personal comment or two, sometimes not. I do feel there’s merit in aggregating literary links in this manner – frankly, my blog is one that I’d love to read if maintained by another – but there’s no denying that its significance is limited. Anyone with a Net connection, time and a Google search could do the same.
In this context, the appeal of a blog lies in chiefly in its point of view and tone of voice. Apart from occasional parodies and mutterings on the state of the city's bookshops, this one is lacking in both those elements (in spite of the fourth-person voice that one is so fond of using!)
As for the anonymity that a few people have asked about, it’s not because I’m in any way associated with the world of letters and use a blog to voice opinions I otherwise can't. Quite the contrary. The truth is far more prosaic, and can simply be attributed to my wallflower genes.
What, then, of the future? Should I post less frequently, choosing to write thoughful, allusive and more readable posts in the manner of this gentleman, or this one?
Should I dive into confessions, narrated with wit and flair?
What about combining humour with magisterial disdain, as is the case with my forebear?
Perhaps I ought to widen my ambit to include social concerns, as this blogger does?
Or should I simply go on with literary links, but take care to always include a sharply-defined point of view?
While I’ll be taking at least a few days off to chew this cud, what I’m clear about is that this blog will continue, in whatever guise. Though updating it has often cut into time earmarked for reading, writing – and, occasionally, working – it has for the most part been a delight to maintain. Thank you for reading.
Three hundred and sixty-five days and 630 posts later, it’s time for reflection. Most of my posts are, as even a cursory glance will show, merely a series of links to sources of literary news, reviews and interviews – sometimes accompanied by a personal comment or two, sometimes not. I do feel there’s merit in aggregating literary links in this manner – frankly, my blog is one that I’d love to read if maintained by another – but there’s no denying that its significance is limited. Anyone with a Net connection, time and a Google search could do the same.
In this context, the appeal of a blog lies in chiefly in its point of view and tone of voice. Apart from occasional parodies and mutterings on the state of the city's bookshops, this one is lacking in both those elements (in spite of the fourth-person voice that one is so fond of using!)
As for the anonymity that a few people have asked about, it’s not because I’m in any way associated with the world of letters and use a blog to voice opinions I otherwise can't. Quite the contrary. The truth is far more prosaic, and can simply be attributed to my wallflower genes.
What, then, of the future? Should I post less frequently, choosing to write thoughful, allusive and more readable posts in the manner of this gentleman, or this one?
Should I dive into confessions, narrated with wit and flair?
What about combining humour with magisterial disdain, as is the case with my forebear?
Perhaps I ought to widen my ambit to include social concerns, as this blogger does?
Or should I simply go on with literary links, but take care to always include a sharply-defined point of view?
While I’ll be taking at least a few days off to chew this cud, what I’m clear about is that this blog will continue, in whatever guise. Though updating it has often cut into time earmarked for reading, writing – and, occasionally, working – it has for the most part been a delight to maintain. Thank you for reading.
posted by PrufrockTwo at
26.4.06
9 Comments:
Happy budday!
And looking forward to "thoughtful, allusive" posts - then I can happily retire, or at least restrict my posts to rants about Delhi traffic.
By
Jabberwock, at 9:40 AM
Greetings and best wishes, sir. I can accept your being "Prufrock Two" only as a chronological fact. Otherwise, your erudition reduces me to "a pair of ragged claws".
But "magisterial disdain"? Wtf?!
J.A.P.
By
J. Alfred Prufrock, at 5:45 PM
"merely a series of links..." Some links they be! Those and that fourth person singular - are what make thy blog most enjoyable. Thank you sir, and chug along!
By
Anonymous, at 6:34 PM
I'm not sure why you need to change anything at all. Personally, I'd rather you stuck with what you currently do and save us all the trouble of having to run the Google search, go through the links, and hopefully find the few good articles in all the trash out there that you end up linking too. The last thing we need is another Prufrock looking down on the rest of us with "magisterial disdain" (sorry JAP - I couldn't resist) - before you know it we'll have a whole jury of you and then where will we be? Counting coffeespoons, no doubt.
You do realise, of course, that if you really want this blog to take a fundamentally new direction, the best people to be asking are those who don't read it. Those of us who check it out twice a day to see what's new are clearly biased in its favour.
By
Falstaff, at 7:56 PM
I actually love it the way it is. As Falstaff says it says us a lot of pain and time looking for the good stuff. But it will be good to read more of that thoughtful stuff you allude to - we only get a whiff of it here and there.
By
Veena, at 9:50 PM
A good filter blog that consistently brings up quality stuff is invaluable. It's a quite chat between friends rather than a soapbox.
And hey, the links you choose to post show a point of view and a very definite voice, even if it's not in-your-face. Which, one guesses, wouldn't be your choice anyway.
p
By
zigzackly, at 1:20 AM
It's more than just the links, it's the way you introduce them. Happy anniversary. Aim for another.
By
Anonymous, at 1:07 PM
confessions, baby, all the way. some hot bombay party stories would be fun :) Interspersed of course, with your excellent link-comment thingies
By
eM, at 3:13 PM
Jai, JAP, Vijay, Falstaff, Veena, Zig, Anon, Uma: Thanks for the encouragement. eM: One doesn't go to parties anymore -- it frightens the bartenders.
By
PrufrockTwo, at 9:23 PM
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