Date Posted:21:46:14 09/05/01 Wed Author: Adilbrand Subject: Re: Modern Voice In reply to:
Mark van Dyk
's message, "Re: Modern Voice" on 16:56:05 09/05/01 Wed
We can look back to Mark Twain and see that he did not write in the style you seem to prefer, though he is very near to the age of Poe, who was exceedingly verbose. Hemingway said that Twain was the greatest American writer, and perhaps for this reason alone.
Mark Twain and Hemingway still had a style that was uniquely evocative, and their style is one that I very much enjoy, yet really see very little of today (of course some of that comes down to my taste in subject matters for books). I would rank them with Byron and Poe in regards to their mastery of words. It is my understanding that Hemingway pretty much ushered in the modern voice in "literary-quality" novels and stories, which goes far to show the impact he could make with what words he did choose to use.
I am not saying that the Victorian style that I like is the best, or should be considered the "only" artful style, just that it seems to have been left behind. I am wondering if it is a lost art, or if there are any modern authors who use that style today.
I certainly didn't intend to be understood that it was the "only" style that quality stories were written in, just that it is a nifty style that no one does anymore. And I think that is a shame. It would be nice to see someone still doing that style.
As for Ivanhoe, any book that goes nowhere with flacid characters is of little interest to me, regardless of the style it is written in. In any given style, you have your masters, and you have your wanna-be's.
