Fiction should be that: just good fun. A story to amuse, entertain and, if it teaches anything at all, had any higher or more noble purpose, does so via the means of a good, well-told story. (Unfortunately, the 20th Century saw a great departure from this idea. *sigh*)
That’s one reason I agree with so many who deem P.G. Wodehouse the best novelist of the 20th Century. All of his (nearly all very short) novels are just that: novel, amusing and entertaining farces, but so very well written, with characters and dialogue and decriptive narrative that are so engaging, that one scarcely notices that their ONLY point is to entertain and amuse.
Another earlier 20th Century (and late 19th Century) author who approached Wodehouse’s readability in his fiction (but who excelled at non-fiction as well) is G.K. Chesterton. Here’s a little throwaway piece of descriptive narrative from one of his detective stories in illustration of his adept use of English:
It was one of those journeys on which a man perpetually feels that now at last he must have come to the end of the universe, and then finds he has only come to the beginning of Tufnell Park.
I’ve been on some journeys like that, haven’t you? And yet, to have an “omnibus” ride described in such terms is a delightful piece of prose painting of the type that Chesterton excelled in.
May I recommend that you CLICK on the Gutenberg.org link in my “Cool Links” section (or in this sentence :-)) and check out some Chesterton for yourself? Whether you settle on one of his lighter pieces of fiction or one of his theological or apologetics essays or his comments on society and mankind in general, or even any of his poetry, his words will draw you into a genial conversation with a sharp, inquiring mind who knew well the power of language… and had inestimable skill in its use.
Chesterton is just one more example of how much FUN one can have using one’s brain for something other than a paperweight.
Posting an invitation to the party at Stop the ACLU
