DEAR Revelations
This year, we're doing a DEAR period at school. For you non-teachers, that means DROP EVERYTHING AND READ.
For twenty minutes daily, everyone on campus reads. I was a little antsy at first, even though I'd been a strong proponent of adding this to our day, simply because I'd done this at other schools and fighting reluctant readers for twenty minutes is not my idea of a good time.
But. The teaching gods have blessed me this year. I have kids who like (and many who love) to read in my DEAR group, so I can read, too, instead of standing over them with a whip and making them read.
So my DEAR book so far has been Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The fun part is, I get to read it as a reader. I have twenty minutes to just read and I'm not taking the book apart the way I do when I have longer periods to read.
I'd read The DaVinci Code a couple of years ago, liked it, but thought Brown spent too much time showing off his research. It's still there in A&D, but I'm liking this story much better.
And today, I could really see why Brown is the success he is. He's not a fabulous writer. I'm not sighing over his prose and the characterization is less-than-deep. Sometimes there is too much explanation.
But man, can this guy tell a story.
A fast-paced, gotta-turn-the-page, what-'s-going-to-happen-next story. He keeps the action moving and doesn't give me time to get bored or even to laugh at the sometimes laughably less-than-deep characterization.
As a writer, I really can't maintain that kind of break-neck pace, although sometimes I wish I could (I have had this idea for a while about a story that takes place during a 24-hour period, but do you know how hard that would be to pull off?!).
As a reader, I'm loving it.
What about you? Any authors who maybe aren't master craftsmen, but are master storytellers? Let's dish.
For twenty minutes daily, everyone on campus reads. I was a little antsy at first, even though I'd been a strong proponent of adding this to our day, simply because I'd done this at other schools and fighting reluctant readers for twenty minutes is not my idea of a good time.
But. The teaching gods have blessed me this year. I have kids who like (and many who love) to read in my DEAR group, so I can read, too, instead of standing over them with a whip and making them read.
So my DEAR book so far has been Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The fun part is, I get to read it as a reader. I have twenty minutes to just read and I'm not taking the book apart the way I do when I have longer periods to read.
I'd read The DaVinci Code a couple of years ago, liked it, but thought Brown spent too much time showing off his research. It's still there in A&D, but I'm liking this story much better.
And today, I could really see why Brown is the success he is. He's not a fabulous writer. I'm not sighing over his prose and the characterization is less-than-deep. Sometimes there is too much explanation.
But man, can this guy tell a story.
A fast-paced, gotta-turn-the-page, what-'s-going-to-happen-next story. He keeps the action moving and doesn't give me time to get bored or even to laugh at the sometimes laughably less-than-deep characterization.
As a writer, I really can't maintain that kind of break-neck pace, although sometimes I wish I could (I have had this idea for a while about a story that takes place during a 24-hour period, but do you know how hard that would be to pull off?!).
As a reader, I'm loving it.
What about you? Any authors who maybe aren't master craftsmen, but are master storytellers? Let's dish.
Labels: Linda's Posts
posted by Linda Winfree at 2:51 PM
2Comments:
After I read DaVinci Code, my crit partner told me Angels and Demons was better. So I bought it, and she was so right. IMO, A&D was the better of the two, but DC got more press. Ain't it always the way?
Anyhoo, can't think of anyone off the top of my head to dish about. I got a wild burr this afternoon and picked up a Hemingway to read, so I'm deep into To Have and Have Not. Hemingway definitely lives up to everything everyone says about him.
Yes, I'm definitely liking A&D better than DC. I like how smart Langdon is. And I like Vittoria, the heroine, too.
Oh, I like Hemingway, although I'm not as familiar with his novels as I am his short stories. I like to show my students how a writer can say so much between the lines.
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