[Roald] Dahl was not religious by temperament or philosophy, and this seems important. Compare his bristling, stinking, unmetaphorical characters with the watery allegories of the Harry Potter cycle — and his prose with J.K. Rowling’s — and you begin to see that a supernatural frame of reference might not always be such a wonderful thing.
Who knew that there was such a direct connection between religious belief and prose style? Let’s try this:
Flannery O’Connor was Catholic by temperament and philosophy, and this seems important. Compare her bristling, stinking, outrageous characters with the watery allegories of the Da Vinci Code cycle — and her prose with Dan Brown’s — and you begin to see that the absence of theological orthodoxy might not always be such a wonderful thing.
Works like a charm!
(By the way, there will be light or no posting for the rest of this Thanksgiving week, but I will be doing a good bit of linking on the Twitter feed, so pay attention to that. Lots of things I would love to blog about but don’t have time to respond to fully.)
brilliant!