From meaning words picking

[threemonkeys]

We don't all read in the same way. Down at the fundamental pattern matching engine layer of our brain there are differences. Some people parse written language one word at a time, others parse sentence fragments, whole sentences or even paragraphs at once. Your brain picks out meaning from the symbols on the page and translates it into meaning. Sometimes that meaning goes via the speech centres or it may connect directly to consciousness.

This language processing all below your conscious level. The thing is, if you start to think about it, it all breaks down to the simplest/slowest level. Sometimes you come across a manner of writing which causes that breakdown to happen. If you have read Iain Bank's Feersum Endjinn, you will know what I mean. Sometimes it is more subtle. As I started to read Daughter of Hounds by Caitlin R Kiernan, I found my eyes seemed to be sliding off the page. There was just something subtly off in the sentence construction that kept throwing off my full speed reading. I had to keep going back to re-read bits. The brain adapts and after a while, I was able to get back up to speed. But every time I put the book down for a while, I had the same problem when i tried to start again.

So there is a story there too. A modern tale of ghouls, changelings and hidden magics with so many influences that you lose count after a bit. Oh yes and vast amounts swearing and violence just so that you don't mistake the youthful characters trying to find their destiny for a YA novel. So was it worth reading despite the language difficulty and the derivative stuff. Well, yes, I think it was. The key being imagery. There are some excellent dark word pictures. It is almost poetic in places. Hmmm poetry - I wonder if that's why I couldn't parse it properly.

Comments

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit that way with Cherry Wilder's books (A Princess of the Chameln, and so forth).
It's not that she parses oddly, though, it's that she never wastes a word. If I've been attuning myself to sloppily written generic fantasy with screeds of fatty descriptive writing, my eyes become used to skim-reading paragraphs until I get to a plotty bit. If I then jump to Cherry Wilder, I will have the habit of doing that, and then realise that I've missed several important details in the last three paragraphs and a couple of years have gone by. I'm exaggerating, maybe. But there's all this wonderful description and plot and characterisation written in the sparsest language possible. Her books are worth reading slowly.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I haven't struck any problems with Cherry's books, which I agree are content rich, but I do have a similar problem with Sheri Tepper's work. The transitions from one setting to another are very abrupt and I found that as I am "skim-reading paragraphs until I get to a plotty bit" I would find that the setting or even the characters have changed and I'd missed it and I have to back-track to find where everything has changed.

[littenz.livejournal.com]

I recently read an Emily Gee novel (Thief with no shadow) that was unforgiving of skim-reading.

I think that aspect accounted for its having very mixed reviews. I was expecting fantasy light and had to continuously adjust my reading style. It was a good read too.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

So subject matter trumps parentage when assessing expectations.