This is from the novel, The God of Small Things, by Arundati Roy:
"It was raining; slanting sliver ropes slammed into loose earth, plowing it up like gunfire"
For me the imagery in that one sentence is amazing! Her description of the rain as silver ropes allows you to picture the constant, hard fall of rain "slamming" the earth. "plowing it up like gunfire" is wonderfully vivid, as I think we have all seen those images (in movies, i hope) where bullets spray the dirt and make it fly. That description also brings an emotional element to the the rain. It is a combative rain. You just know there is trouble taking place.
any other takes on that?
"It was raining; slanting sliver ropes slammed into loose earth, plowing it up like gunfire"
For me the imagery in that one sentence is amazing! Her description of the rain as silver ropes allows you to picture the constant, hard fall of rain "slamming" the earth. "plowing it up like gunfire" is wonderfully vivid, as I think we have all seen those images (in movies, i hope) where bullets spray the dirt and make it fly. That description also brings an emotional element to the the rain. It is a combative rain. You just know there is trouble taking place.
any other takes on that?
Great example! Shows how an image can not only work well visually but also convey tone and, as you suggest, act as foreshadowing (so almost a plot device). This gives me idea for this week's task...
ReplyDelete"Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here, it was like a cage."
ReplyDeleteThis is from the novel Twilight by Stephanie Myers . I have read this book a few times as I have in the series. I enjoy the way she is describing her surrounding as it relates to her mood about being in this new area. In later books her perception of the same place is very different because she is no longer in agony being there in Forks.