The Elegant Variation: WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

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February 13, 2007

WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

Gerry Adams will only publish the third volume of his memoirs if good reviews can be guaranteed.

Publishers are confident that it will sell out, but the author is thought to have serious reservations about the final chapter.

"Like most creative people, Gerry Adams is surprisingly sensitive," said Irish Times literary editor Ulysses Grant. "He finds it difficult to finish anything unless he's absolutely sure that everyone will love it."

And if you don't love it, well, you know, don't start your car.

Posted at 12:30 AM | Permalink

Comments

Has April Fool's Day come early this year? You don't actually think that the Irish Times literary editor is called Ulysses Grant, do you? Or that the previous volume of Adams's memoirs was called 'Sin and Cessation'?

Posted by: Niall Anderson | February 13, 2007 at 06:38 AM

We do know "gullible" isn't in the dictionary ...

Posted by: TEV | February 13, 2007 at 06:44 AM

Yeh, it's a joke, from a lame satrical column in the Irish Times. But you might be interested to know that Banville reviewed Grizzly Adam's book of short stories. I can't remember the exact words, but he said that the book's sentimentality is intimately related with the author's cruelty and authoritarian impulses. Great to read, with all Banville's pitiless vision and humanity.

Posted by: Rory | February 13, 2007 at 01:35 PM

Could someone post a link for John Baville's review of Adams's short stories?
I'd much appreciate it.

Posted by: David Caheny | February 13, 2007 at 11:38 PM

Ulysses Grant. Civil War general, twice president of the United States, and now Irish Times literary editor. I gues they thought his CV was more impressive than Banville's

Posted by: Fergal | February 14, 2007 at 04:58 AM

Now I don't feel quite so silly about my comment about Hugh :) realising too late that of course he is pulling the reporter's leg.

Posted by: genevieve | February 15, 2007 at 10:02 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

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The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

February 13, 2007

WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

February 13, 2007

WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism