tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520744590882489870.post7070566246135798732..comments2023-03-31T15:26:47.448-07:00Comments on This World Like a Knife: False Dichotomies: Plot vs. Lyricism (part 2)Derek Nikitashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08119056203503877029noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520744590882489870.post-14135344930559106972011-01-20T08:24:42.859-08:002011-01-20T08:24:42.859-08:00Avid reader, we agree! My real aim in this post i...Avid reader, we agree! My real aim in this post is to help certain readers understand what is meant when someone says s/he "reads for the language." Because reading for the sounds of words alone is not what most people mean. I think the lyricism comes from evoked sensory experience--most of all, context, sensually-appropriate rhythm, diction, and the way the sounds of words evoke the sense of the passage (instead of merely sounding good in their own right). You compel me to go back and finish this essay!Derek Nikitashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08119056203503877029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520744590882489870.post-8539299587033046562011-01-17T19:47:23.527-08:002011-01-17T19:47:23.527-08:00As an avid reader and writer, I agree with much of...As an avid reader and writer, I agree with much of what you've written here, but without that "language," the reader is left with empty blanks they must fill in on their own. Great writers love language, they know how to shape and mold it so that readers who appreciate "lyrical" prose have something substantial in their hands and minds. The work is done; the reader is fully engaged in the world created by "language."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com