The term "potboiler" refers to a written work that has been dashed off to make a fast buck and has little literary merit. The exact origins of the phrase aren't clear. Maybe it's meant to convey that the work, probably a thriller, delivers enough heat to get the job done - performing an essential function efficiently but little else. Last night as I read a pice by Salman Rushdie the phrase popped into my head as I nearly burnt my dinner I was so riveted by it. The description doesn't fit at all obviously. It's the kind of writing that provides light more than heat, illuminating dark corners of memory and understanding we don't know exist until someone points them out. Then they become unforgettable. I liked this part on how the fewer clear memories we have of an event the greater significance they take on.
The shards of memory acquired greater status, greater resonance because they were remains: fragmentation made trivial things seem like symbols, and the mundane acquired numinous qualities.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v04/n18/salman-rushdie/imaginary-homelands
Comments
Post a Comment