There is nothing more thrilling than to read a novel's opening sentences and feel the entire weight of the novel laid bare, giving both a sense of anticipation and dread. You can not help yourself but to lean in to see if such proclaimed prophecy will turn out to be right even as you are […]
Lessons From the Masters: Joseph Conrad’s Opening Sentence: An Outcast of the Islands Read More »
Flannery O'Connor: From Mysteries and Manners "I often ask myself what makes a story work, and what makes it hold up as a story and I have decided that it is probably some action, some gesture of a character that is unlike any other in the story, one which indicates where the real heart of
The Anagogical Moment, Referencing the Mystery. Read More »
I so enjoy reading John Le Carre whose masterful writing offers a lesson in how to write with precision, creating layers of meaning in finely honed phrases. Here is the opening passage from The Perfect Spy, a seemingly straightforward account of a man, Marcus Pym, striding across a square on a rainy evening, headed toward
The Perfect Passage: John Le Carre Read More »
This is why I love reading Shakespeare: Prince Hal: "This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back breaker, this huge hill of flesh." Falstaff: "S'Blood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull-pizzle, you stock fish. Oh for breath to utter what is like thee! You tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!."
The Very Best Insults Read More »
I have just finished a conference where we read and discussed in great depth Emile Zola's novel, Au Bonheur Des Dames (The Ladies Delight.) The novel, set in the late 1860's, centers on the invention of the department store (based on the historical store Bon Marché in Paris). The owner Mouret — a scoundrel and
The Splendor Of Shopping: Emile Zola and Au Bonheur Des Dames (The Ladies’ Delight) Read More »
“It is springtime, he goes off with the peasants to mow the fields. in the beginning the task seems too arduous for him. He is about to give up when the old peasant leading the row calls for a rest. Then they begin again with their scythes. Once again Levin is about to collapse
From The Scythe To The Pen Read More »
