Yes, that's thoughtful. It's true that some books find their way immediately
onto courses because of popularity with students - like the overrated
Trainspotting did, although an interesting publishing phenomenon that
reached thousands who don't normally pick up a book at all - but its
generally a cumbrous affair. Many HE teachers seem to despise the literary
marketplace anyway, although one might hope that the expansion of such
institutions and their constituencies would lead to more diversity in what
is studied.
Shelley has gone in and out of course - probably is not studied that much
compared to Keats. The Ricky Gervais thing, and testing on readers, goes
back a long way - the dime novel factories of C19 America (read a
fascinating book about it once) and of course before that to the beginnings
of the novel with Richardson reading drafts to his female coterie. The
sacredness of the modernist text was a blip, never a norm.
But it seems, as you say, poetry will always be dependent on the hidden hand
and the cogniscenti, except in its popular forms. I didn't know that about
John James' bad review. I've always liked his work. Where was it?
best
John
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