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April 01, 2007
Word Importance in "Beloved"
"Beloved" is very interesting in this dymanic especially: the fact that each word that she uses in the story is important in some way. Many novels have unimportant words and sentences, while every line in "Beloved" carries some importance. In many novels, it is possible to daydream, skip a sentence, skim a section, or be for a short time unfocused while reading. However, in "Beloved" none of these things are possible. If you miss a word, line, or section, you may miss an extremely important phrase and the rest of the story may not make sense. Even if you read it fully, but are not focused, a key word could slip past and have the same result. I learned quickly when reading "Beloved", that almost every line needs to be read twice, just to make sure that some important fact or meaning wasn't skipped over or misinterpreted. This is really the first story that we have read this semester that carries this dynamic. I think, wether the story is 'good' or 'bad', that the experience behind reading a novel that requires constant re-reading and contemplation is a positive experience.
Posted by shankamp at April 1, 2007 07:27 PM