Crossing The Line

The line between a sensitively judged exploration of emotion and self-indulgent wallowing can be very fine indeed. It's a useful exercise to try and place writers, or any kinds of creative artist, in relation to the line. The only great writer I can think of who regularly (and sometimes disastrously) crosses our hypothetical boundary is Dickens. But the odd thing is that somehow the sentimentality is part of his genius.

And, apropos of nothing, it's interesting how often I find myself having to explain in classrooms in this Far Place that the word sentimental in standard usage has strongly pejorative overtones.