word for today
June 19, 2007
bathos: 1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
3. triteness or triviality in style.
—Synonyms 2. maudlinness, tearfulness; mush, gush, schmaltz. 3. insipidity, inanity.
I often have to look up words at the blogs I really like - I like the more challenging writers. What's the fun if it's all bland and boring stuff you can get anywhere? Of course, I still don't like (or get, I guess) post-modern type writers. I tried, really I did, reading The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje but couldn't get into it. And that was after I saw the movie and so understood the concept. Why can't writers write more like David Lodge who once described deconstructionism as sawing through the branch of a tree while sitting on the distal end of the same branch. Actually he did it better than that but I couldn't find the quote, which I remember from reading one of his books - probably "Nice Work", back in 1996.
Anyway, I found "bathos" in A Dress A Day today, which does have to do with dresses but also is about good writing.
bathos: 1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
3. triteness or triviality in style.
—Synonyms 2. maudlinness, tearfulness; mush, gush, schmaltz. 3. insipidity, inanity.
I often have to look up words at the blogs I really like - I like the more challenging writers. What's the fun if it's all bland and boring stuff you can get anywhere? Of course, I still don't like (or get, I guess) post-modern type writers. I tried, really I did, reading The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje but couldn't get into it. And that was after I saw the movie and so understood the concept. Why can't writers write more like David Lodge who once described deconstructionism as sawing through the branch of a tree while sitting on the distal end of the same branch. Actually he did it better than that but I couldn't find the quote, which I remember from reading one of his books - probably "Nice Work", back in 1996.
Anyway, I found "bathos" in A Dress A Day today, which does have to do with dresses but also is about good writing.
posted by JuliaR | 6/19/2007 02:01:00 p.m.
3 Comments:
Nooooo! The movie of The English Patient does not at all share the concept of the book! The movie sucks! The book is good!
Hi Julia!
Yep, same here for The English Patient...and yet, I'm an avid reader....
Hey BBRUG, I heard that Ondaatje was involved in the screenplay so the movie can't be all bad. What do you think about Proust? I asked Carmen already and she read it in the original French and her comment was sort of like, "meh". But I keep having the feeling I should read Proust. Only I have to remember to call him "Proo" and not "Prowst".
Post a Comment
<< Home