Is there any such thing? Let's investigate—for good or ill. A blog about fiction and literature, philosophy and theology, politics and law, science and culture, the environment and economics, and ethics and language, and any thing else that strikes our fancy. (Apologies to Bertrand Russell)
28 February 2008
Dialogue
JW: "The penultimate chapter in my new book, How Fiction Works, is entitled "Dialogue".
JH: "Great. I've been particularly anxious to hear what you have to say on that critical topic."
JW: "It's a pretty short chapter, actually."
JH: "Oh, I see."
JW: "I do like good dialogue."
JH: "Okay. I believe you. Can you give me a brief summary then?"
JW: "Yes."
JH: "Ahem. Well would you?"
JW: "Sure. Here goes: 'Henry Green writes good dialogue. He never intrudes on his characters' speeches by using excess explanatory words like "he said knowingly", or "she sputtered angrily", or "he explained", etc. Like a good dramatist, he lets the words speak for themselves, often doing double duty in the narrative."
JH: "That's it? Isn't there anything else?"
JW: "Well, V.S. Naipaul writes good dialogue, too. Except when he doesn't."
[Crickets]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Henry Green does write great dialogue. But that isn't much of an argument, is it?
I certainly do a lot of this on my blog - "look, isn't this wonderful" - but I don't pretend it proves anything.
The "crickets" moment: sheer comedic mastery.
Post a Comment