I'm terribly amused by an author and writing instructor whose last name is "Prose." Giggle with me. OK, now that we've had our moment, this book is a good reminder to slow down when reading and really savor what a good author can do. Learn from it. Understand why they pick the words they pick, and why a sentence is constructed in just that way.
Prose says that through close reading, the reader can not only understand what an author is saying, but what he or she is implying. She uses lots of examples from literature to back up her thesis, but then again, if I chose my literature examples carefully enough, I could use them to prove a thesis that says yellow bunnies are the secret rulers of the Earth.
It proves a point, but it doesn't make that point a rule. It's obvious that Prose is absolutely passionate about literature, though, and that passion carries the theory a long way.
So I would say that this book is not necessarily a handbook, but rather a love letter to the mysterious alchemy that is a wonderful book. Take time to enjoy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment