[quote=“Seth_Gecko”]I am a firm believer that there is a distinction between ‘favourite’ and ‘best’. [/quote]
I agree, but there’s also a difference between what IS best and what you THINK is the best. And I don’t think there’s a difference between your favourite and what you think is the best.
[quote=“RatQuiRit”][quote=“Seth_Gecko”]I am a firm believer that there is a distinction between ‘favourite’ and ‘best’. [/quote]
And I don’t think there’s a difference between your favourite and what you think is the best.[/quote]
Which is what I said but these dopes, for all their talk of writers, can’t read! 
[quote=“F.W.”]I have a friend that will argue with you forever about how “favorite” and “what you think is the best” are the same thing. I agree with him but I’m not as persistent and psychotic obsessive as he is about the subject.
I’ve seen him clear rooms.[/quote]
I’ve argued on this very forum that they are the same thing. Hell, I don’t even believe in objective secular ethics. I have a favourites/who I consider the best list and not really anything else.
I think I just confused myself before. Cause I’m not at all saying that Palahniuk is a guilty pleasure. Early Palahniuk rates highly in my book. But he rates highly as entertaining fiction. I think he has a great understanding of satire (even if his recent work has somewhat obscured it), but the reason he is on my list is because of the enjoyability of his prose. He entertains me, therefore I like him. Does he tell me fundamental truths about human nature? Maybe. Has he changed the face of fiction? Probably not. Do I enjoy reading his novels? Yes. And that’s enough of a reason for him to be there.
My distinction between “favourites” and “what I consider the best” is blurred because what someone considers the best as opposed to their favourite is usually to do with the film’s construction, technical and narrative form, historical relevance, etc. Having an understanding of all that, and of filmmaking in general, I find great joy well-constructed films. So what is technically “the greatest” in my book is usually my favourite.
So this discussion leads to:
A. Favourites is the same as best. Ergo: What I claim to be favourites are objective the best books? Because nobody can make the distinction between best and favourite.
B. There is no thing called an objective best. All there is is post-modern fun for all individualism. If I think James Joyce is crap. So it be. My individual world doesn’t take place in a wider spectrum of things.
That seems a bit narrow, no? Everyone is a God in their own right? There has to be a distinction between important things and less important things. Surely there were greats and lesser greats?
Or is admitting that your taste isn’t exactly the most divine one, the greatest sin here? Get your 15 minutes of fame at mc donalds people. If I say its the best food ever. Its my favourite. I am loving it. It is written. It is objective the best because I list it as a favourite. Since I, as a sincere individual, who thinks, can’t make the distinction between my own world and a broader spectrum of things.
And yes, I think people, who have any form of education can tell the difference when they talk of taste or have an OBJECTIVE opinion about a work.
[quote=“Seth_Gecko”]
And yes, I think people, who have any form of education can tell the difference when they talk of taste or have an OBJECTIVE opinion about a work.[/quote]
I don’t know, really, whether there is a distinction between best and favourite. I only previously argued it on this forum because I felt like arguing at that point in time. But for me, at the moment, it’s really hard to see something well-made and dislike it.
So whether or not there is a difference, it is usually the same for me.
Speaking of McDonald’s, when it comes to food I am generally one of those people who’d be happy eating a donut from a service station in place of Krispy Kreme. I know there’s a difference. And I guess in that situation I can tell that something is of better quality. But I don’t have enough food education to give a shit.
[quote=“Angel”]
Speaking of McDonald’s, when it comes to food I am generally one of those people who’d be happy eating a donut from a service station in place of Krispy Kreme. I know there’s a difference. And I guess in that situation I can tell that something is of better quality. But I don’t have enough food education to give a shit.[/quote]
And if you were the food fucking master and tasted every fruit in the broad range of cuisine. Would you think it possible that you would regard the donut to appeal to your personal taste or a universal truth of divine deliciousness when you take pleasure in eating one?
Objective opinions are scapegoats.
“Oh, I don’t like Citizen Kane but I’ll agree that technically it’s the best movie of all time! Then I’ll bend over and let you fuck me in the ass!”
[quote=“Seth_Gecko”]
And if you were the food fucking master and tasted every fruit in the broad range of cuisine. Would you think it possible that you would regard the donut to appeal to your personal taste or a universal truth of divine deliciousness when you take pleasure in eating one?[/quote]
Well, if quality of food has that much effect on the taste, then I’d imagine that my favourite foods would be gourmet dishes.
You see, all I am saying is that if something is well made, I get excited and then I appreciate it and then it tends to be a favourite. So they just end up being the same for me. Whether or not they are the same, I can’t much say. That’s a question of philosophy I think.
Oh it most certainly is a question of philosophy! It’s a fun discussion though. I don’t know either if one thing is intrinsic a better book than another one or that it is a social construction and that every opinion in this light matters in an equal way.
The discussion in Plato’s Euthyphro in a nutshell:
Whether the pious or holy (good) is beloved by the gods because it IS pious/ holy/ good or it is pious/ holy/ good because it is beloved by the gods.
The gods here could be all people/ critics/ whatever your fancy talking about whether a book IS good or just regarded good and therefore good.
I do believe in different scales of measurement though.
Like I love Commando, but obviously I can’t grade it as an insight into the hearts and minds of the average American.
I grade it as a successful action film.
Cormac is a God
and what? no love for Stephen King up in this bitch?