Reflecting today on the effect of the books one read on one's own writing. Am currently reading a book of collected diary entries, and so find myself writing and even thinking in partial sentences. For example, each sentence starts with a verb rather than "I" or "We". A funny little coincidence, though the partial sentence compositions in my head are getting annoying.
The book I'm reading is Michael Palin's diaries from 1969-1979. I've always liked his acting in the Monty Python shows and movies (Dennis the Constitutional Peasant, the father at Swamp Castle, etc, etc), but didn't realize until reading this huge volume just what a good writer he is. The insights are written in a very readable style, and as he writes about the creation and eventual demise of Python, you also hear about the moon landings, Watergate, the IRA bombings of the mid-70s, and his own family life, including his father's decline through Parkinson's disease. It's funny and touching and interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment