Ah, there is nothing so righteous as getting my buns to the gym. I bounced in, and I bounced out. Don't know why that happens. Somedays, everything is such an EFFORT. And then there are days like today, when it all seemed mega-easy. And I am doubly righteous becase I am reading LITERATURE. Frankly, I think people who say they only read literature are lying or just pretentious prigs who enjoy looking down their noses at us common folks, chuckling over the new Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Milhone tome, not to mention Qwilleran, KoKo and YumYum. Poor peeps never got to read Harry Potter! That, folks, is a wasted life indeed. But I am plowing my way through The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. I have taken a lot of writing courses in my tiny life, and like to read writers who can compose a good story with dynamic characters, lilting narrative and pithy dialogue. This writer is on the cusp, as far as I am concerned. Plus the first 10 or so pages had me yawning so large I could have broken my jaw. First rule of writing: Hit them with a dynamite opening. Next is the very selective use of modifiers, which you don't need if you pick the right noun or verb in the first place. Specifics! It is not a bird, it is a robin, or a finch, or a hawk, or a nightingale. The sky is not cloudy, it is bruised, puckered up, cottony, windswept. We didn't walk, we ambled, skipped, scooted, slunk, trudged. Oh, there are so many wonderful words. And, when at a loss, just make one up, like Annie Proulx does. Drenty. Try to find that in your Funk and Wagnalls. Life is so delightfully complex. And righteous.
2 comments:
oh you righteous cow woman! Glad you had a good day
I personally didn't find that series to be literary really - but he wrote some good characters and a good story. But also keep in mind its translated from Swedish! The Swedish films are fun too - highly reccomend.
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