Re: RARA-AVIS: Why books are over 200 pages

Words from the Monastery (jackechs@erols.com)
Sat, 05 Sep 1998 15:52:58 -0400 At 02:43 PM 9/5/98 -0500, MT wrote:

>If Pelecanos's book sold for $1000 and Clancy's for $1.99, Pelecanos
>would still be a bargain in comparison. Bad writing is worth nothing.

In the case of bad writing, yes ... but if I had to choose ... Clancy wins
over Pelecanos hands down.

>In artistic matters, I have always associated greatness with the ability
>to condense - which is why I consider Beethoven an immeasurably greater
>composer than, say, Mahler. The other day I was reading Chandler's story
>_Trouble is my business_, and what struck me, besides Chandler's
>legendary way with words, was how economical the development was. No
>doubt one could take this story and write 300 pages, but why?

The Sistine Chapel is great and is huge ... one image from it is awe
inspiring ... the whole is heaven on earth ... more would be just more of
the same. Chandler's a good pick ... he wrote both short stories and
longer works ... none of his longer works suffer from being longer ... just
more of what you enjoyed in the first place. A good writer is just going
to write more of the same ... but hey, if you want less of your favorite
authors so be it.

----
volente Deo,

Anthony
jackechs@erols.com or ICQ #3717510
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/4640/

"And then there she was / Like double cherry pie
Yeah there she was / Like disco superfly
I smell sex and / candy here"

-- J. Woznaik, Sex and Candy, marcy playground
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