I was not anticipating a terribly sad ending when I finished A Farewell to Arms, but I think the fact this novel was not designed to end happily is one of the reasons it is so powerful.
The primary lesson I assimilated from this book is the power of varied sentence lengths. I am very confident the 100 books are going to drastically improve my writing. Unfortunately, at this pace, it’s going to take over two years to finish them.
I’ve moved onto book number two: Ulysses. I can understand why it was rated number one: the writing is brilliant. If I can manage to tackle these 600 pages, I’ll celebrate… with another book. Hopefully I can acquire some of Joyce’s descriptive techniques. He describes things beautifully.
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I have always thought Ulysses to be one of the poorest written books imaginable. It should be noted this book is the least favorite of high school and college readers everywhere.
Ulysses was voted best novel of the twentieth century, but after the fact almost half the judges said they had never read the novel, and many of the other said they hadn’t liked it.
I suppose the brilliance of the writing is highly subjective, but I would urge any writer who wishes to succeed to avoid, at all costs, writing anything in imitation of James Joyce.
Hemingway is a great writer, Joyce is literati darling who wrote the most disliked, less read book of the twentieth century, despite it being number one on many lists
Writing like Joyce may make you the darling of some literati, but it won’t impress agents, editors, and the average reader.
If you really want to see what good writing is, writing that the reading public loves, pick up a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories. No living writer uses language nearly as well as Bradbury.
Be leery of such lists as the one put out by Modern American Library. They aren’t trustworthy, almost never reflect the taste of the reading public, and many of the novels thereon are seldom liked even by the people who make the lists.
If you must follow a list, follow the reader’s list. It isn’t terribly accurate either, but it’s much closer to reality than the board’s list.
Wow thank you for that comment.
I do agree that the writing is very bizarre. But I do enjoy the way he describes things. It’s certainly unique compared to what I have read before. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on mimicking his style. I just wanted to experience it.
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