Re: RARA-AVIS: [Bend it like Carver! Not!] Re: HEART OF DARKNESS

From: Mark Sullivan ( DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net)
Date: 25 Jul 2003


Miles wrote:

"I suspect that one of the reasons long sentances, adjectives, adverbs and other devices are out of favor is due to the reading habits and abilities of the current generation (including mine, the BBs). Everything is short now."

Say what? Maybe in movies and on TV, but not in books. Ellroy is short? Lehane is short? Rankin is short? Block is short? Chabon is short? Harry Potter is short? Not saying it applies to any of those just mentioned (at least not all of their work), but I, and others on the list, have often complained that many crime novels now seem padded to increase page counts as if the books were being sold by the pound. Many a potential contemporary Gold Medal thriller is buried under unwanted and uninteresting personal details -- for instance, what the hell was up with the funeral and sons subplot in the last Matt Scudder?

Mark

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