Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
I don't understand why so many skip or skim descriptions of scenery or places. For me, a strong sense of place is important in order to become immersed in a book. I especially like writers who write descriptions using all the senses, so I know what a place looks like, smells like, feels like, sounds like, yes even tastes like. (At the moment I keep reading about the salty taste of the sea.
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For me, I am not reading fiction to enjoy a return to the 19th century and the style of writing where every rivet in the blasted boiler was described. One recent book I read mentioned a building was a Cape Cod style. That, for me, was enough to draw a picture. I did not need 10 more paragraphs describing the colours of the house, roof and door, the stain used on the shutters, the condition of the lawn, etc. Edward Bulwer-Lytton would have been proud of the prose, none of which was relevant to the remainder of the book.