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That's not a perspective I expected someone to argue, and I'd argue directly the opposite. I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want t
by SCdF 8y ago
That's not a perspective I expected someone to argue, and I'd argue directly the opposite.
I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want to be uncharitable) its prose. I haven't looked into this at all, but it always feels to me like editors are a new edition to the writing process.
Ironically I usually really enjoy the actual prose they wrote, because it's often beautiful, but after dozens and dozens of pages of hearing about how pious some bishop is you have no context for you really start to wish Victor Hugo would just move the fuck on.
- zeroego 8y ago>I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want to be uncharitable) its prose. In some cases older writers were actually paid per word. Dickens comes to mind.
- emodendroket 8y agoThe ancients were not paid by the word but didn't think much of a couple pages of genealogies.
- pnathan 8y agoThe term is purple prose. It peaked around 1920 or so, I think. Our aesthetics have changed, that is for sure.