During a recent "First Tuesday Book Club" programme on the magic box, one of the books being discussed was "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", by Robert Louis Stevenson. Panelist Marieke Hardy made a comment with which I agree. She said that so many of the wonderful words used in this book, and others of the period, sadly were no longer in current use. We know that this is the nature of language, that it should constantly change, but not all changes are for the better.
Another point which found agreement within the panel was that, at no time, did Stevenson describe in detail the gruesome injuries inflicted on the victims, yet the words used captured the aura and horror of each event. This contrasts with so many novels of today which seem to have degenerated into manuals of forensic medicine to create the shock-horror aspects of their story. This has grown from an apparent desire to show realism, but it so prevalent now that readers are being brainwashed into becoming mutilation voyeurs. Let's get back to the use of language to develop atmosphere and let the imagination of the reader link with the writer's story-telling skills in a shared creation.
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