Despite his imaginative titles and interesting writing, he does something that bugs me. Every once in a while, he will have a killer lurking in the closet and I am afraid for the hero when the writer will launch into a detailed description of the objects on the bedroom night table or why the killer's father grew up to be such a mean drunk. I am too direct and too mission-oriented to enjoy such a diversion. When I am all set to intervene if the bad guy tries anything, I am not in the mood for detailed embroidery of the text. It only takes a few such attempts to prolong the suspense when I become impatient. Then, I simply start scanning the paragraphs to get past the silly, unsuccessful embellishment (often irritatingly colorful and extended language) looking for that killer's next move.
The first Jacques Barzun book I ever read was The House of Intellect and I have read most of his many works since. I always thought his writing was a fine example of crisp, direct communication, although I will admit that he never worked with fiction, a plot, characterization and the other tasks of creating a good story. C.S. Lewis was my other model writer and he did both fiction, such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Tales of Narnia) and The Screwtape Letters as well as such books as Mere Christianity.
I suspect that in today's profit-hungry, block-buster-bemused world, an author, especially a hungry, ambitious and up-and-coming one, might be tempted, or even required by the publisher or the market. to be sure the manuscript has adequate length. Whatever the reason, I like a story that more or less sticks to the point and doesn't require earning 15 college credits before telling me what happened. Deliver me from being trapped in words and words!
