Are authors aristocracy? In 1854 Henry David Thoreau had this to say:
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations…Their authors are natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind”.
I think it’s true that writers are elevated by others. But to me that’s a side effect, and certainly unwanted. Those who get into writing for the celebrity and to fuel their sense of entitlement – well, that’s getting into it entirely for the wrong reasons..
What do you think?
Copyright © Matthew Wright 2012
Matthew Wright 
Interesting question. I feel like more of a journeyman storyteller. My job is to entertain, and if I do it well, perhaps enlighten a little too. Certainly no aristocrat – I don’t want to be first against the wall when the revolution comes!
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Nothing wrong with workmanlike storytelling to entertain – Isaac Asimov did just that, on the basis that it let him better connect with his readers. Best way, I think. Thanks for visiting, and all the best for your writing.
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Having spent an afternoon in the company of writers…uh…I’d have to say “no” on the aristocratic end of things. Once I stop laughing and pick myself up off the floor, I’ll repeat that in an even louder voice.
…and what crazy person thought being a writer would make them a celebrity?
Maybe I’ve been going about this all wrong.
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I’ve never been able to understand the breathless elevation of writers by society, still less the writers who think they should be somehow ‘better’ than those who don’t write. My pet hate is when writers themselves show it – most don’t, but I discover there is a deeply shameful level of snobbery in some literary circles. A few years back I was at a writers’ party when the word rippled through the gathered guests – all published authors, I might add – that a particular local novelist had just turned up. Apparently she was our writing aristocracy. Did it impress me? No.
Real writers are usually the humblest people one would ever care to meet. At another party I got chatting to one of New Zealand’s best known and top novelists, and the prime mover behind enshrining our royalty-compensation-for-library-books scheme (“Author’s Right”) in law. A huge, huge achievement from which every writer here can benefit.
But you’d never have known any of that to talk to her.
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I understand admiration. There are lots of writers I would fumble and stutter and hiccup around, were I to find myself in their presence….but most people who are successful in their chosen field, get that way from hard work. They’re just regular folk and if you treat them that way, I think most of them appreciate it.
Humility is good to emulate. I don’t know about New Zealand (ers?), but Americans could certainly use a dose or three.
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It’s good to recognise and admire what people have done. I suspect elevating them to a pedestal’s another matter, though. Certainly that doesn’t happen here. Kiwis pride themselves in being ordinary and unassuming, on first name terms with everybody irrespective of their position or status. Very different from the UK, and likely the US. Actually I get the impression that Americans are kind of loud, maybe so they can be heard over their shirts… 🙂
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I definitely appreciate what Thoreau meant. Some authors do feel very aristocratic to me… though only in hindsight. Society can be slow to react, so a significant author’s true influence cannot really be felt until years, or decades, after their writing has been published. Examples might include George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, Malory, Austen, etc, etc. But, like you, I also delight in writers’ humility, and… I know exactly what you mean about the ripple that precedes certain writers (often ones I’ve never heard of until that moment!).
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Thanks for dropping by – Orwell’s definitely one of the great instances of an author having colossal influence – in his case, defining a whole expectation of society. Fantastic! And I think we can be pretty sure they were all very humble about it.
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I have always felt that authors were aristocracy – at least my favorites. But I don’t write to become a queen. I write because I must.
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And that is a very good reason to write!
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The written word is incredibly powerful. I’m not sure why, but seeing something in writing makes it real, true, even if it’s anything but. For this reason, I can see Thoreau’s point, especially given the time he was alive. Nowadays, I’m not sure this would be so accurate because we’ve become inundated with written information (and a plethora of books) through the internet and indie e-pubs. Familiarity breeds, well, familiarity, which takes away some of the mystique of the producers, i.e. the Author as Aristocracy.
That said, I’d still be more thrilled to meet one of my favorite authors than a famous actor or actress (arguably today’s aristocracy–at least in the US). However, I’d also expect my authors to be more like real people–perhaps because I’m a writer, too. I’ve also, I think, been fortunate in that I’ve yet to meet an author who was full of his or her own importance. We’re just all slogging it out in the trenches.
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I agree with everything you’ve said – especially the bit about the trenches! It’s hard sometimes. Though to that I’d add that in NZ nobody gets elevated, not like happens in the US. Not writers. Not actors. Not Hollywood celebrities. In fact, Hollywood celebrities can (and do) walk about our streets. Nobody bothers them, though they might privately think something like, ‘was THAT Sigourney Weaver, gee, she’s tall!’.
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I think writers influence others on a broad level and have the ability to become legendary (like Rowling), but the beauty of it is that it’s not up to the writer. Some would argue Rowling’s books are crap in terms of writing style, but clearly they touched the lives of millions upon millions of adults and children. So she became a member of the writing elite through no real work of her own — and by no real work I mean no outstanding work. She didn’t do something amazing compared to other writers; she wrote her book, got it published, and it happened to became amazing. So I think the readers choose to make the writer that aristocratic member of society that Thoreau was talking about, but that could just be me. And even then, it’s our words that are truly the valued prize, not the author. So maybe the novels are the aristocracy, if you want to look at it that way.
It’s an interesting question though.
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That’s a good thought and I’d definitely agree that authors have broad influence, sometimes I think even more – Rowling is a case in point. She’s effectively created a worldwide social phenomenon. Eric Blair (George Orwell) did it too, in other ways. Absolutely transcending the original written word and taking the products of their imagination into everyday society. A fantastic achievement.
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Yeah, it’s a wonderful thing, something I think should be cherished more often. Here in the US if you’re a “bookworm” you really aren’t the norm in society and people look at you funny. Whereas if you write a book, people still look at you funny unless they’ve read your work. Then you’re pretty cool (if you wrote a good book). Haha. So that still affirms the aristocracy aspect of writing and writers because once you’ve written a book you might as well say you’ve created the pyramids — and you might have, in some wonderful fantasy world. It’s really awesome and humbling in a strange way (despite the somewhat inherent pomp with the word aristocracy).
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I think you make an excellent point here. Two people can do the same thing (in this case, write a book) and come across as complete opposites, all because of their motivation. I find it mysterious and sobering, the way inner motives eventually bubble to the top. In my mind, of course writers are an aristocracy of imagination–and ye, simultaneously, we are humble slaves to the pen. I guess paradox is part of the package. Thank you for a thought-provoking post!
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It’s often surprising what kind of pops out in your writing. Sometimes, stuff you as author didn’t even think you’d put in there!
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Writers do often seem paradoxical, don’t they? Some are introverted and yet can create complex societies on paper that seem so real and convincing, others are social and yet writer about loners who hate society, and so on. I think it comes with the territory.
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