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0 pointsChrisMarshallNY4y ago0 comments

I'm trying to remember if it was Dumas, but some French author was reputedly paid by the word, so all their dialogue is incredibly drawn out ("I have a question." "What is the question?" "It is, as you might expect from me, a simple question." "By all means, please, present me with the question, that I may resolve your puzzlement." ... etc.).

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warrenm4y ago· 1 in thread

That's one of the ongoing theories as to why Moby Dick was so long ... not merely to accentuate the 99.99% bordedom of whaling (with the 0.01% of "excitement"), but because he'd get paid better if it were longer

Having read the "Great Illustrated Classics" edition of Moby Dick as a kid, and watched the Gregory Peck film, I can confidently assert I NEVER want to read the whole thing.

Even those "condensed" versions had enormous swaths of nothing in them!

JJMcJ4y ago

When I read Moby Dick I found it a quick read for the length. Full of incidents and plot.

JJMcJ4y ago· 1 in thread

Many modern novels seem that way too. Not the elaborate dialog, but endless rambling descriptions.

Historical novels are often big offenders. Like the author has done a ton of research, not a bad thing, but can't bear to leave any of it out, and there is no editor to say that's too much, people don't need to know how big the potato patch at the Palace of Versailles was.

warrenm4y ago

while not a big Western fan, I do find Louis L'Amour's compact descriptive format to be intensely engaging

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