Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Difference Between Me & John Steinbeck

Me:  The patrol heard a dog howling in the distance.

John Steinbeck: "Down toward one end of the village, among the small houses, a dog complained about the cold and the loneliness.  He raised his nose to his god and gave a long and fulsome account of the state of the world as it applied to him.  He was a practiced singer with a full bell throat and great versatility of range and control.  The six men of the patrol slogging dejectedly up and down the streets heard the singing of the dog, and one of the muffled soldiers said, 'Seems to me he's getting worse every night.  I suppose we ought to shoot him.' "
  -from The Moon Is Down, 1942

Guess I'll keep my day job.

5 comments:

Heather said...

"Some voices are just not appreciated!" or "Complaining can get ya killed!" or "Sometimes it's better to just keep your mouth shut!"

Great post!

linlah said...

Could you post another example cause I'm not seeing the difference.

j said...

That is a great excerpt!

I don't write like Steinbeck, either (though you remind me that I need to pick him up again), but that doesn't stop me from trying to write like ... well, whatever I write like. It's worth a shot.

Don E. Chute said...

Hello, just discovered your Blog. Clapclap-Well done! I'm following you, twitter, etc. Looking forward, to reading, not clicking...

A Valdese Blogger said...

Heather: Smile & thank you.

linlah: lol! Just pick up any ol' book and start reading.

Jennifer: You write pretty well. Sometimes when you read someone like Steinbeck or Tolstoy or Hemingway it can be intimidating, especially if you'd like to join that austere group. Only a handful of people have their abilities - but so what? If a person (such as myself) likes to write, then that person should write.

Don: Glad you liked the post. I tend to write about any ol' thing that I think about.

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