Jessie: In New Hampshire where the birds sing that it is spring
During the month of April, our theme is Prose and Cons. Great prose, at least to me, is one of the hallmarks of novels I want to reread even though I know how the story ends. Which book or books, would you reread just for the beauty of the language?
Julie: Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides. Persuasion by Jane Austen. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. These are four that came to mind. I love beautiful words, and prose that makes me jealous because of its beauty.
Edith/Maddie: These aren’t classics like Julie’s, but whenever I read a book by either Catriona McPherson or Julia Spencer-Fleming, I say to myself, “I wish I could write like her.”
Liz: I’m going to also point to current authors. I think Tana French has such a compelling way with language and aspire to write like her. Also R.J. Ellory has a style that I find gorgeous – A Quiet Belief in Angels is the best example of this.
Sherry: I have to agree with Julie that I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a book that sticks with you. More recent reads that made me think “I wish I’d written that line” include Like A Sister by Kellye Garrett, Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day, and Necessary Blood by Deborah Crombie.
Barb: I agree that great prose is a key to a great novel or short story. It’s an understanding of the rhythms and complexities of language, the use of le mot juste, the seductive voice that whispers, “Follow me. I am going to tell you a great tale. Not one second of your attention will be wasted.” Prose is great because of what it does-deepens character, illuminates setting, tells story. For the perfect words in the perfect order on the perfect page, I am going to go with a short story writer, Alice Munro. I don’t need to reread her stories. They’re still with me.
Jessie: I love all of your answers and am so glad I asked the question! I have reread The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and several novels by Fannie Flagg for the prose. Beautiful prose us one if life’s great pleasures!
Readers: Which book or books, would you reread just for the beauty of the language?
William Kent Krueger’s “Ordinary Grace.”
Agree, Susan!
I love that one too!
I re-read most of Jane Austen for the language.
I can totally understand choosing Austen’s work!
I love reading “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach. It just makes me think and it’s a quick read but oh so meaningful.
What a charming choice to include!
I recently finished reading the latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series book by Alexander McCall Smith and I have reread some of those just to remember his cadence and style of writing. I also really enjoy his Isabel Dalhousie Series and often find myself going back to reread passages I marked with a post-it note.
His prose is so beguiling!
I agree with Susan on Ordinary Grace. It was a beautifully written story. The story and the characterization created a wonderful read and the title was so appropriate.
It really was wonderful!
Love all your suggestions! I just keep coming back to Tolkien.
Tolkien! I should have put him on my list! Thanks for mentioning his work!
The Hobbit, the first two books of the Gormangast triliogy, Sherlock Holmes.
Middle Earth and Baker St! I love this combination!
I would re-read just about anything that Daryl Wood Gerber writes. ESPECIALLY her stand alone thrillers.
I also was mesmerized by the The Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins. Her creation of this dystopian society was so interesting and the characters even more so. I found it captivating.
What a fun and disparate list! Thanks for adding to the conversation!
Dominick Dunne’s The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. I’ve read that book several times over the years, but I remember the first time I read it, I immediately turned to page 1 and began again. The use of language was magnificent.
Wow! What a recommendation!
In This House Of Brede by Rumer Godden
I second Prince of Tides. Conroy’s mastery of language makes me feel that I am flowing down a river of words and succulent phrases
Amor Towles and “A Gentleman in Moscow” – lines so beautiful I read some of them aloud to hear their sound. Most recently Richard Osman’s “The Man Who Died Twice”