Category: Best Writing of The Week

Just Raymond Chandler Describing a Man

I'm a massive Raymond Chandler fanboy, though I only started reading him recently. And here's an example that shows exactly why I'm a massive Chandler fanboy. Half an hour and three or four cigarettes later a door opened behind Miss Fromsett's desk and two men came out backwards laughing. A third man held the door … Continue reading Just Raymond Chandler Describing a Man →

Now That’s a Simile

These days I'm re-reading Raymond Chandler's masterpiece, The Long Good-bye. I do this as I'm nearing the completion of my own book; I don't avoid fiction as some writer's do to avoid being overly influenced but knowingly read books I want to be influenced by. In this case it's mostly four books I read and … Continue reading Now That’s a Simile →

The Best Writing of the Week – Wuthering Heights

Sometimes you come across passages that remind you again of what good writing is. I just started the classic Wuthering Heights last night (yes, you need to read the classics) and was taken aback by a passage not just because of the quality of the prose but also by the tone. It was like the … Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week – Wuthering Heights →

Elephants Aglow – A Few Words About THE ONLY HARMLESS GREAT THING

Elephants shouldn't glow. Humans shouldn't be careless with radioactive waste. But good writers should tell good stories, and that brings us to Brooke Bolander's The Only Harmless Great Thing. This tells the story of a woman and an elephant. The way the book is written may make the book slightly less appealing to readers, and … Continue reading Elephants Aglow – A Few Words About THE ONLY HARMLESS GREAT THING →

The Best Writing of the Week – Tender is the Night

Do you ever read books simply for the prose?  In an attempt to improve my writing I do this a fair bit and am now reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. It was there I came across the following description that, as it happens, is also the best written thing I've read all … Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week – Tender is the Night →

The Best First Sentence of the Year?

I'm reading Undertow Publication's excellent anthology Year's Best Weird Fiction Volume Two. It was there I encountered the following sentence, the first in the story Loving Armageddon by Amanda C. Davis: She presses her cheek to the center of his chest, listening to the beat of his hand-grenade heart. Now. Here's why I think this is awesome. There's … Continue reading The Best First Sentence of the Year? →

The Best Writing of the Week | Dickens Again

The best writing this week comes, yet again, from Charles Dickens. He is a master, pure and simple. From great character names to the most vivid descriptions and heartbreaking plot, he is one to envy. Here is a great passage I came across this week while reading Hard Times She gave him an affectionate good-night, … Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week | Dickens Again →

The Best Writing of The Week | Harlan Ellison

Neil Gaiman told me to read Harlan Ellison, and if Mr. Gaiman says something, I obey. (This is also why I read Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) I come relatively late to Harlan Ellison but am not sorry for it; I'm glad there's something this good out there still left for me to … Continue reading The Best Writing of The Week | Harlan Ellison →