List #35: The Essential Novel

Vast and Deep

It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder — where else would it be? But it is not true that beauty — or greatness in art — is a relative quality. To believe artistic greatness is simply a matter of taste, one would have to believe that art had no purpose or that one instrument for achieving its purpose was as good as any other. But no. An idiot may successfully drive in a nail with an encyclopedia; a hammer is still a better tool for the job.