the book i just finished reading was almost painful for me to get through. the story was fine, and i even liked the book in general. what was painful was the language the author used. it was set in vienna around 1918 and it was just ridiculous with thesaurus usage. i'm sorry, but people do not talk this way. and they didn't in 1918 either. here are a few examples:
"Even those who looked like uncooked buns or emerged from lace shawls like hirsute marmosets peering through balls of oakum, could bring a smile to that testy and cantankerous old face."ugh. not my cuppa tea. dave is reading the brothers karamazov, and when i read him those sentences he said "dostoyevski doesn't even write like that." what is it, occam's razor that says the simplest solution is the answer? same goes for writing. using simple words, even when writing technical papers, is better when you're trying to reach a general audience, and i learned that over and over in college. granted, i didn't major in literature, but...i guess i'm feeling critical today. and yesterday. yikes. sorry for the negativity, people. anyway, i guess my point is i was not a fan of this book and if i ever wrote a book, i would say things like "the dinner was good. the room was pretty." and that's why i've never written a book.
....and....
"Everyone who worked there cursed the place from morning to night and resisted with vituperative ferocity all suggestions of a move to more salubrious quarters."
the end.
10 comments:
you're killing me with curiosity...what book was it?
Haha. Painful reading for sure.
Yeah, I wanna know, too!
it was called "the reluctant heiress". don't bother with it. seriously.
how funny. i just finished a book about austria in 1918 seconds before i read this post. i also liked the story just fine, but felt the writing was way over done. it is not the same book as yours. weird.
HA-larious. This is totally a pet peeve of mine. My students try to do this all the time and it is to try and hide the lack of substance in their writing; like I'll be so blinded by the big words that I won't notice the paper is crap!
how vexatious!
(i got that word from the thesaurus just for you!) :)
just like a bad date, i hate reading a bad book - because both are such a waste of time!
Love this post. I wouldn't call it negative. It's critical. And those two things aren't the same. Keep them coming!
Oh, and is Dave liking that book? I kid you not, it's on my list of books I'd like to read soon.
No Stacy, I don't think he's loving it. It's not too bad and he'll finish it, but I don't think it's his favorite--it's also very very long.
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