Lee Hunts

There has been a long-running debate among writers between how to best write prose. Simplifying a little, it can be broadly characterized as a division between those who argue for minimalism and those who argue for more ornate prose. Both sides have been derided—the former as "beige" or "dry," the latter as "purple." But I would say that minimalism is probably the most common form of writing, if only because it is easier. As a result of this, the debate almost always takes the form of someone like myself criticizing Sanderson for his prose, and a fan of his replying that his prose doesn't need to be ornate or poetic to be good. In other words, I usually find myself on the snotty "ornate" side of the debate. But I recently came across a few videos by Joseph V. Logsdon that seem to embody the literal caricature presented by the simple prose side, and I find myself on the other side of the argument. Now I want "minimalist" prose. Obvio...

I just finished reading The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson. This is the first entry in The Gap Cycle, which is a five book science fiction series that apparently expands massively in the next volume. As I implied, this story is smaller and rather simple. It involves three main characters: Angus Thermopyle, Morn Hyland, and Nick Succorso. Most of the focus is on Angus, however, as this nasty and even monstrous man shows up at a bar with Morn at his side. This draws attention from almost everyone, but especially Nick Succorso. And theories naturally come along, with events seeming to unfold in a particular way. But that is apparently not the real story. What follows is quite literally the real story, outlining the events as they actually occurred. No Spoilers The Prose The first thing that stood out to me in this story was the prose. In particular, the perspective that Donaldson used was fascinating and worth mentioning. The beginning of the book opens with what I ended up calling ...

“That which exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.” I finished reading Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy a couple days ago. This is considered to be Cormac McCarthy's magnum opus, a novel set in the mid nineteenth century. It follows the historical Glanton gang that infamously traveled throughout the west scalping native Americans and committing other wanton atrocities. Like every McCarthy novel, it is extremely violent and nihilistic, and is well known for that fact. Overall, I cannot say that I enjoyed the book all that much. I do not regret reading it, but it was rather tough to get through, with the combination of prose style, lack of characterization, and non-existent plot. I had to get the audiobook about twenty or so percent through to help me push through; finding the willpower to push through was actually kind of difficult. I almost DNFed it, too, but decided to stick with it. Overall (No Spoilers) As I said, while I did not enjoy the book that much, I did...