Some people write because they have stories to tell, while some others write because they have style to sell. A simple occurrence can mean different things to them. While Jeffrey Archer will narrate with words like these, “A fighter advanced to meet the enemy”, Salman Rushdie will aggrandize it as, “A person unbeknown to the world advanced to meet another person of his ilk, just on the opposite side fighting under another flag and with another brand of sword.” This is not an overdose of figure of speech, but the way a writer has been molded to think and pen since the beginning.
Salman’s writing belongs to that zone which people call erudite. Flowery words, ornate style, elongated expressions, larger-than-life happenings, I mean, everything bloated. When I say bloated, I don’t intend to debase it, but highlight a seriously different brand of writing where writers use an imagery of words to convey everything. Naturally it is not understood or savored by everyone. But whoever has an affinity for it can never get enough of it.
I am not yet fully into it, but I do appreciate these complex manoeuvres of words. PG Wodehouse was the first writer whose works I found totally different. While ‘celerity’ (meaning swiftness) is an archaic word now, it was used umpteenth times by him for his favourite butler, Jeeves. Also while reading, the usage of dictionary is as common and needed as the rising of the sun. The story flows convoluted, rolling from one zone to another in words.
I can’t say which or what is better, just by analyzing mass popularity or literary grandeur. Jeffrey Archer is more famous than PG Wodehouse or Salman Rushdie, but he can’t match their delivery skills either. As about the movies, the preference lies with the reader. But from a reader’s perspective, I can only tell that it is doubly great, if we can learn to both immerse in the worldly drama of ‘Kane and Abel’ and float in the magical unrealism of ‘Enchantress of Florence’.
Salman’s writing belongs to that zone which people call erudite. Flowery words, ornate style, elongated expressions, larger-than-life happenings, I mean, everything bloated. When I say bloated, I don’t intend to debase it, but highlight a seriously different brand of writing where writers use an imagery of words to convey everything. Naturally it is not understood or savored by everyone. But whoever has an affinity for it can never get enough of it.
I am not yet fully into it, but I do appreciate these complex manoeuvres of words. PG Wodehouse was the first writer whose works I found totally different. While ‘celerity’ (meaning swiftness) is an archaic word now, it was used umpteenth times by him for his favourite butler, Jeeves. Also while reading, the usage of dictionary is as common and needed as the rising of the sun. The story flows convoluted, rolling from one zone to another in words.
I can’t say which or what is better, just by analyzing mass popularity or literary grandeur. Jeffrey Archer is more famous than PG Wodehouse or Salman Rushdie, but he can’t match their delivery skills either. As about the movies, the preference lies with the reader. But from a reader’s perspective, I can only tell that it is doubly great, if we can learn to both immerse in the worldly drama of ‘Kane and Abel’ and float in the magical unrealism of ‘Enchantress of Florence’.
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