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> On the other hand I remember a particularly tedious passage in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea where several pages passed describing various molluscs found at th
by yomly 10y ago
> On the other hand I remember a particularly tedious passage in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea where several pages passed describing various molluscs found at the bottom of the sea.
This reminds me of the passage in The Picture of Dorian Gray which amounted to some detailed description of gemstones or worse, the chapter in The Great Gatsby that was essentially a list of names.
I usually aim to read a text in its entirety out of respect for the author, but I had no qualms fast-forwarding through those sections.
- gknoy 10y agoI still laugh about the chapter in the middle of Les Miserables where the author spends something like 20-30 pages talking about the battle of Waterloo. It was interesting, and very detailed, but had nearly no connection to the plot of the story (other that one of the people there left an heirloom for a character, or something?). Later, he did the same thing for the sewers of Paris, and I believe I skipped that. ;)
- csdrane 10y agoSimilarly, Moby Dick has tens of pages describing the particulars of the whaling industry.
- huehehue 10y agoAnd Michael Crichton's Airframe has tens of pages describing airplane parts and their inspection processes. I love it when books do that -- fortunately, it's easy to distinguish between technical passages and drivel.
- bobcostas55 10y agoThe gemstones bit is drawn from Huysmans' À rebours (which is referenced indirectly in Dorian Gray), which is basically an entire book of that. It's great!
- shanusmagnus 10y agoEver read the Iliad? The catalog of ships was murder. I had to make myself remember that literature served a very purpose then, and existing in a very different context, in much the same way that the crazy excess of detail (so it seems to me now) of 19th century literature came across very differently to people who didn't have TV, movies, or practically any visual media.