Free Form Dickens
I am reading David Copperfield for the first time since I was about 12.
There is a section about one third of the way through the book that stands out as being very free-form; full of dreamy language, sketches of characters that only appear in a few paragraphs and never again, as well as impressionist descriptions of emotions that flit by like buzzing insects.
The writing seems terribly modern. I marveled at the liberties Dickens took in that moment of writing and felt the breath of his phrasing, felt the joys and sorrows in which his memory swam. So much information passed by in so few words. Yet those words told off years of narrative.
And so I go on, praising Dickens for being a true writing hero. His books do him justice and they do us a great service.
Amy
There is a section about one third of the way through the book that stands out as being very free-form; full of dreamy language, sketches of characters that only appear in a few paragraphs and never again, as well as impressionist descriptions of emotions that flit by like buzzing insects.
The writing seems terribly modern. I marveled at the liberties Dickens took in that moment of writing and felt the breath of his phrasing, felt the joys and sorrows in which his memory swam. So much information passed by in so few words. Yet those words told off years of narrative.
And so I go on, praising Dickens for being a true writing hero. His books do him justice and they do us a great service.
Amy
posted by Seven Authors in A Private Conversation at 8:51 AM
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