THE PLANK SEPTEMBER 16, 2009
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So declared Dan Brown at the launch party for his new book The Lost Symbol. In a related literary observation, he noted that "The best part of a novel is the interior dialogue"--I think he means "monologue" here--"that you don't get in a movie or in actual life." Of course, you do get it in movies that feature voiceover and, in "actual life," if your own thoughts are accessible to you. Still, I take his point.
In any case, the folks at Vulture have cracked open a copy of The Lost Symbol to explore the myriad ends to which Brown uses interior-monologue italics (and ellipses!). A brief sample:
I woke up this morning anticipating a quiet Sunday at home ... and now I'm a few minutes away from the U.S. Capitol.
You're a teacher, Robert — improvise!
Made it ... again.
A budding romance, maybe?
Who is this monster?!
I need that pyramid and capstone ... and I'm running out of time.
You can find more of Brown's Joycean experimentation here.
1 comments
Dan Brown: Master...of...the...total...ellipse...of...the...pun Ah, but meaning between the lines is nothing compared to meaning between the words. But I go much further than he does. I have mastered the meaning between ellipses themselves. For example: The... ... ...Lost... ... ... ...Sym... ...bol... i...s d...r...e... ... ...k Joyce was a ... pussy!! gw
- iambiguous
September 16, 2009 at 8:43pm