Loved this essay Charles. The Flaubert/Davis sentence is beautiful. And the Banville reminded of the scene in Gatsby when Daisy and Jordan are on a couch in a room open to the wind on either end and their dresses are "rippling and fluttering" and they seem themselves to be aloft until Tom closes the doors and they and their dresses and the curtains "balloon slowly to the floor."
I appreciate good metaphors, when they make an opaque idea more understandable, or when they amplify an already elegant passage. As for becoming defensive about younger generations taking liberties with the “proper” way I was taught to speak and write, I admit that it irritates me sometimes. But then I think of my father, and how I irritated him with my generation’s vernacular, so I guess it’s sort of a cosmic payback and my old man (God rest his soul) is probably chuckling about it.
Cosmic payback—in a light, comic way—sounds like a good system. At least in that system everyone is content eventually, whether they like the changes in one particular moment or not. Thank you for the comment, John.
Loved this essay Charles. The Flaubert/Davis sentence is beautiful. And the Banville reminded of the scene in Gatsby when Daisy and Jordan are on a couch in a room open to the wind on either end and their dresses are "rippling and fluttering" and they seem themselves to be aloft until Tom closes the doors and they and their dresses and the curtains "balloon slowly to the floor."
I appreciate good metaphors, when they make an opaque idea more understandable, or when they amplify an already elegant passage. As for becoming defensive about younger generations taking liberties with the “proper” way I was taught to speak and write, I admit that it irritates me sometimes. But then I think of my father, and how I irritated him with my generation’s vernacular, so I guess it’s sort of a cosmic payback and my old man (God rest his soul) is probably chuckling about it.
Cosmic payback—in a light, comic way—sounds like a good system. At least in that system everyone is content eventually, whether they like the changes in one particular moment or not. Thank you for the comment, John.
Well said! At the risk of looking foolish some years down the line, I wrote this: Words That Should Die — https://www.whitenoise.email/p/words-that-should-die
Thank you for the kind words, Tom. I appreciate the link too - I agree that there are always some words that are worth avoiding.
Omg I love this! And not just because I mix metaphors and love Solenoid, but for the writing, the humor, and the liberty of it all!
Thank you, Trilety.
Thank you for the kind words, David. And that's such a vivid description and a good reference from Gatsby.