Cormac McCarthy has an
unmistakable prose style. What do you see as the most
distinctive features of that style? How is the writing in The
Road in some ways more like poetry than narrative prose?
I think that this novel is written in poetic free verse, often leaving out punctuation for effect. I also have noticed that the author frequently uses portmanteaus to establish the sense that the rules of the world are all up in the air.
In order to evoke emotion, poetry uses descriptive language and word patterns, McCarthy incorporates these into his writing, allowing the reader to take in every moment in small doses so they're better received, therefore making the reader feel closer to the story evoking emotion. John Pinto
Cormac McCarthy has an abundance of poetic devices in his work in contrast to the style of traditional narrative prose which has many grammatical rules. Examples of his usage of poetry are his fragmented sentences and lack of proper spelling and punctuation. Sometimes his sentences are poorly constructed or far too long without using list formats or proper segmentation. Coming from a writer's perspective, it is important to have these aspects in narrative prose because unlike poetry, narrations are in paragraph format and not stanza, and lines are not differentiated like poetic enjambment. His most distinctive features are the way he shapes the novel's grammatical rules so that they follow the theme of The Road, thus having no real order or canon. He makes the book come across as a post-apocalyptic piece of art.
Off-topic, The Road is a novel with a lot of pomp and circumstance, an exciting appeal which a lot of other authors lack in their own novels. It has significant meaning within the plot as well as its structure and composition. I find it easier to place myself in the circumstances of this book than in circumstances of other books because The Road is so freestyle and non-committed to conformist writing techniques.
I think that this novel is written in poetic free verse, often leaving out punctuation for effect. I also have noticed that the author frequently uses portmanteaus to establish the sense that the rules of the world are all up in the air.
ReplyDeleteIn order to evoke emotion, poetry uses descriptive language and word patterns, McCarthy incorporates these into his writing, allowing the reader to take in every moment in small doses so they're better received, therefore making the reader feel closer to the story evoking emotion. John Pinto
ReplyDeleteCormac McCarthy has an abundance of poetic devices in his work in contrast to the style of traditional narrative prose which has many grammatical rules. Examples of his usage of poetry are his fragmented sentences and lack of proper spelling and punctuation. Sometimes his sentences are poorly constructed or far too long without using list formats or proper segmentation. Coming from a writer's perspective, it is important to have these aspects in narrative prose because unlike poetry, narrations are in paragraph format and not stanza, and lines are not differentiated like poetic enjambment. His most distinctive features are the way he shapes the novel's grammatical rules so that they follow the theme of The Road, thus having no real order or canon. He makes the book come across as a post-apocalyptic piece of art.
ReplyDeleteOff-topic, The Road is a novel with a lot of pomp and circumstance, an exciting appeal which a lot of other authors lack in their own novels. It has significant meaning within the plot as well as its structure and composition. I find it easier to place myself in the circumstances of this book than in circumstances of other books because The Road is so freestyle and non-committed to conformist writing techniques.