This is the standard line, but a lot of the time I find it to be bullshit. Sure, Cormac McCarthy gets to look cool and modernist by not using quotation marks, but my view is you would spend less time trying to decipher narrator vs. character if he did use them, and you would have a better reading experience at the same time.
I agree- which is the way I believe most Cormac McCarthy fans view his writing style. I have never read his books, they aren’t for me- but I feel that bucking trends is the way art is meant to evolve. Some trends getting bucked are more annoying than others, though.
Do you have any authors that you suggest to others?
I tend to read books about religion and history, so there isn’t really a lot of breaking the mold there unfortunately.
Gormenghast and Neuromancer are the kind of heavy atmospheric and descriptive fiction I like, but they don’t really deviate from standard punctuation or presentation in any way.
Gormenghast… I read a translation si I wouldn’t know about grammar rules, but it definitely broke storytelling rules. The style of the descriptions, how description and action blend into one another, how decay becomes almost a tangible presence through the pages… a unique book by any means
Well, I forgot about that. Looking at it, I’d say it was a part that I managed to get through quite quickly, since it wasn’t just describing the texture of a wall for a full page.
Fair enough- I had never heard of either of those before. However, I know Mervyn Peake has been a heavy inspiration of modern fiction. I may have to give the Gormenghast series a try- just super daunting.
Anyways, thanks for indulging my curiosity. Just had time to kill. Have a good one!
I thought House of Leaves dragged on, but I think the confusion was kind of the story too, you know? You have this scenario going on in the book, and the book itself has you looking left right up down here and there for the context.
“House of Leaves” challenges what is a book! Forget grammar, this is an identify crisis of narrative. Or is it even narrative at this point? Work of art, absolutely.
This is the standard line, but a lot of the time I find it to be bullshit. Sure, Cormac McCarthy gets to look cool and modernist by not using quotation marks, but my view is you would spend less time trying to decipher narrator vs. character if he did use them, and you would have a better reading experience at the same time.
This is not an inflammatory response, I am just curious- How do you feel about “House of Leaves?”
Generally considered to be a phenomenal work of art, but it DEFINITELY doesn’t follow the vast majority of standard grammar rules.
I hadn’t even heard of it until your comment.
I respect going all in on breaking convention for the sake of art a lot more than leaving out punctuation as a style.
I agree- which is the way I believe most Cormac McCarthy fans view his writing style. I have never read his books, they aren’t for me- but I feel that bucking trends is the way art is meant to evolve. Some trends getting bucked are more annoying than others, though.
Do you have any authors that you suggest to others?
I tend to read books about religion and history, so there isn’t really a lot of breaking the mold there unfortunately.
Gormenghast and Neuromancer are the kind of heavy atmospheric and descriptive fiction I like, but they don’t really deviate from standard punctuation or presentation in any way.
Gormenghast… I read a translation si I wouldn’t know about grammar rules, but it definitely broke storytelling rules. The style of the descriptions, how description and action blend into one another, how decay becomes almost a tangible presence through the pages… a unique book by any means
Doesn’t Gormenghast have that dinner scene that’s a massive stream of consciousness curveball?
Edit: Book 1 Chapter 57 The Reveries
Well, I forgot about that. Looking at it, I’d say it was a part that I managed to get through quite quickly, since it wasn’t just describing the texture of a wall for a full page.
Nobody captures a wall in its decaying magnificence like he does. He makes the ugly beautiful.
Fair enough- I had never heard of either of those before. However, I know Mervyn Peake has been a heavy inspiration of modern fiction. I may have to give the Gormenghast series a try- just super daunting.
Anyways, thanks for indulging my curiosity. Just had time to kill. Have a good one!
I thought House of Leaves dragged on, but I think the confusion was kind of the story too, you know? You have this scenario going on in the book, and the book itself has you looking left right up down here and there for the context.
Jumping in.
I tried ‘House’ and noped out about fifty pages in.
Too much work and not much payout.
imho it was a gimmick book.
“House of Leaves” challenges what is a book! Forget grammar, this is an identify crisis of narrative. Or is it even narrative at this point? Work of art, absolutely.