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Flora Tang Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
It's a cruel literary world out there.
Author John Irving said to J.K. Rowling :"My fingers are crossed for Harry." who, along with Stephen King, pleaded for her not to kill Harry Potter. Rowling responded by saying, "It's a cruel literary world out there"
Please explain the boldface part to me, thanks!
Please explain the boldface part to me, thanks!
Top answer
" You use that when someone comments on something that's not fair, or that something bad has happened. But of course, when an author writes fiction, it's not the real world, it's literary - it exists only on the pages. " So she says "literary world" to make the saying work for the world of fiction.
- " You use that when someone comments on something that's not fair, or that something bad has happened.
- But of course, when an author writes fiction, it's not the real world, it's literary - it exists only on the pages.
- " So she says "literary world" to make the saying work for the world of fiction.
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1 Answers
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It's a play on the expression "It's a cruel world out there." You use that when someone comments on something that's not fair, or that something bad has happened. But of course, when an author writes fiction, it's not the real world, it's literary - it exists only on the pages. So she can't say "it's a cruel world out there" because her world is "in there" meaning "in the book." So she says "lite
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