Literary Blogging?

That headline just might get Neddie's attention. Neddie Jingo sure did get all self-conscious and reflective once he learned that we actually were going to study him this week. Neddie's nervous witticisms aside, I'm not sure I'd know what to make of "attempting literature," either.

I hate to flatter, but Neddie has a pretty cool cultural blog. He's got an appealing blog voice, despite the fact that he relies on irony and word play to entertain and delight his readers. As we've seen from accomplished writers' blogs, it can be tough to pull off some of this stuff without becoming an anti-blogger -- or a long-winded "literary" scrivener. Neddie seems to get it for the most part -- I feel like he's addressing other bloggers. He stays away from the soft writer's voice, most often speaking with purpose and volume.

I'd better qualify what I just said a bit. He does seem to get what the blogosphere demands, being current and using bold language -- yikes, even calling Anne Coulter a "stupid bitch." But his posts are full of baby-boomer cultural references -- I think this is an appealing blog meant for literary-minded yuppies. Judging by the comments, there's a few out there. I sure loved references to one of my favorite visual movies, Fanny and Alexander, and Trekisms galore. The Bush-Miers love notes post is wonderfully sardonic, not meant for those allergic to complete sentences.

So, here's a writer I think is definitely influenced by the blogosphere with its appetite for quick, rapier-like jabs. But the sense of irony and keen satirical voice were definitely developed elsewhere. It definitelty has appeal to this borderline baby-boomer.

But, for a keen study in contrasts, try staying down for long with Xiaxue. I couldn't. It's most definitely a blogging voice, annoying, over-the-top, incessantly self-indulgent. But the problem with this blogging voice is that it's so loud and consistently snarky that it looks like a performance on overdrive. I get so much a sense of playing to an audience, that I'm left out in the cold because I can't find anything real behind the blog.

OK, the legs are definitely real. But the terse, punchy writing, used so effectively by some bloggers, seems empty to me here. The sporadic use of profanity seems staged. The photos are so overly narcissistic that even fashion geeks have to get bored. I felt like I was watching a cyber teeny-bopper on stage.

It definitely exemplifies a style of writing that's pretty common today, but the rhetoric is oh so dull.