The Elegant Variation: I KINDA ENVY THE BASTARD

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March 30, 2010

I KINDA ENVY THE BASTARD

Jim Crace, whose Being Dead is a TEV favorite, announces his plans to stop writing fiction.

Most writers would say that they are driven to write and know no way to fill their time or make sense of the world. Crace is amused by their presumption. "My belief is that I will be quite happy not writing. JD Salinger once said, 'You've got no idea the peace of writing and not publishing,' but I am going to go one better and find the peace of not writing and not publishing. I'm looking forward to it."

Posted at 02:01 PM in Litlinks | Permalink

Comments

I'll envy him a lot more after I've published 12 novels.

Posted by: Pete | March 30, 2010 at 02:18 PM

I'm with Pete on this one. And for the record, I enjoyed Being Dead as well.

Posted by: Paul Lamb | March 30, 2010 at 03:22 PM

I haven't read Being Dead, but I loved The Devil's Larder.

Posted by: Michelle | March 31, 2010 at 02:49 AM

Driven to write and compelled not to write...it's the push and pull of the thing that drives writers mad.

Posted by: T | March 31, 2010 at 08:51 AM

Is he giving up writing, or typing?

Posted by: Niall | March 31, 2010 at 09:45 AM

If you try to imagine the amount of work that must go into a book like Being Dead, which is not only structurally impeaccable but actually goes one further and uses meteric devices and prosody in the actual prose while at the same time considering the amount of light reading applied to this wonderful product he produces. It must be a relief.

That said, quiting writing is no different from quiting drinking, verifiable only upon death.

Posted by: Juan Murillo | March 31, 2010 at 06:47 PM

The style, spelling and punctuation of the previous comment are embarrassing, but the point stands.

Posted by: Juan Murillo | March 31, 2010 at 06:52 PM

the real trick is not writing and yet getting published all the same. I'm working on it.

Posted by: amy | April 01, 2010 at 12:19 AM

Salinger's comment is interesting, but the pleasure of writing without publishing is less for those who haven't published, ever.

Posted by: Ward | April 01, 2010 at 07:44 AM

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 best short story collection we've read since ... well, certainly since we've started this blog. And we might even say "ever" if Dubliners didn't cast such a long shadow. The short story is not our preferred form but D'Ambrosio's eight brilliant stories are almost enough to convert us. Defy the conventional wisdom that short story collections don't sell and treat yourself to this marvel. (We're especially partial, naturally, to "Screenwriter".)
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*Now in Paperback*

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The Rider by Tim Krabbe

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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

March 30, 2010

I KINDA ENVY THE BASTARD

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

March 30, 2010

I KINDA ENVY THE BASTARD

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