Perspective: "Sigmund Freud
Artists' sensitive perception of the hidden indicates
that in their knowledge of the human mind
'they are far in advance of us everyday people,
for they draw upon sources which we have
not opened up for science.' "
Kubovy in that a great piece of artwork must evoke some sort of emotional or unique response
WEAC News: "What couldn�t we do if we didn�t understand this? What�s the �moral of the story�? What is worth remembering, after time has passed, about this topic, unit, novel, or experiment?
For example, why should students read the novel, �Lord of the Flies�? Why this book and not another? What will they gain from this experience that will make a difference to them? What are the �big ideas� in this work? What makes this book a classic? "
Philosophy Department Home Page: "Aesthetics involves the analysis of these kinds of responses. Here are some typical questions asked in aesthetics: Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or are there objective facts about what is beautiful and what is not? What makes a work of art great? Can a work of art with an immoral message be beautiful or are beauty and goodness inextricably linked in some way? How does the aesthetic value of human-made works compare with the aesthetic value of natural objects? Can art give us knowledge of about the world? How does music express emotion? What is the nature of aesthetic experience? "
THE WORLD PHENOMENOLOGY INSTITUTE World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research: "What makes a work of art 'great'? It certainly is great insofar as it is capable of inspiring sublime sentiments. Is this inspirational virtuality not based on an amalgam of experiences of the beautiful, true, and good? "
2blowhards.com: Elsewhere: "* What makes a work of art great? For some reason the question is in the blogging air. Tim Hulsey (
here) and Terry Teachout (
here) are of the I-know-it-when-I-feel-it school. Aaron Haspel most certainly isn't; he has a whack at the question with a scythe
here. Blessed with no sense of timing whatsoever, I cranked out my own, much more pedestrian thoughts a zillion months ago
here. Short version of the Michael Blowhard p-o-v: since it's got nothing to do with you or with me (it's something history, whatever that is, decides on and then may or may not change its mind about), why worry?"
A commentary on why we read, and a defense of Hemingway, et. al.: "like all great literature, it is a profound rumination on human nature, and it provokes any number of moments of deep self-examination and retrospection...
Great art changes the playing field; it shifts our very perspective. What’s more, it influences those who come after, even if it’s in a negative manner."
Lords Hansard text for 26 Nov 2001 (211126-04): "I suppose one of the definitions of what makes a work of art 'great', is that in its presence we experience what can only be described as a 'shudder of recognition'. It shakes us to our foundations, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, and makes us reassess what life's purpose might be....The 'shudder of recognition' that those works of art elicit comes from an awareness deep within our souls that in their presence we are on the threshold of absolute beauty and absolute truth. We have to take our shoes from off our feet because the ground on which we stand is holy. Those 'shudders of recognition' can occur at the other end of the human scale; for instance, when we encounter appalling cruelty. The shudder then is a recognition of an existential abyss into which any of us can topple, either individually or collectively. There are other moments too when we experience the 'shudder of recognition'; for example, when a moral issue seems so massive and so far-reaching that one can only approach it with patient awe. "
Wild Bill Guarnere.Community -> The Violin Playing Part In Episode Nine: "This series has made me stop to think about what makes a work of art great. I've come up with three things that seem to sum it up for me. One, Truth. Two, Trust--the artist's faith that Truth will speak for itself. And three, an element of Spirituality--some force in the work which opens a crack in the armor of the heart."
In the Skin of a Lion: "Someone once said that a great novel is one that lingers with you and creates its own language so that you are filled with a different world for which, you are glad to have lived in for awhile."
Amazon Light - Details for There Are Doors: "A great novel is one that, in addition to telling a good story, gets better on every re-reading and rewards its readers more and more as their understanding grows."
e.Peak (22/10/2001) features: A new life for the left?: "The definition of a great novel is one that articulates the spirit of its age - the sentiments and fears that every person has but cannot put into prose."
EntertainMe! - Book - The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Popular Classics): "I have always felt that the mark of a great novel is one that when you finish it you realise that you love it but you just can't describe why. "
