Maybe I’m impatient, maybe I’m no good at reading, but I feel myself getting sleepy whenever I encounter what others like to term ‘lush, atmospheric prose’. I just don’t like it. I prefer the moment, the feel of it, rather than the look of it, because I can construct an image in my head far better than the author can describe it.
A rough, unedited, shoddy example (my own) of the type of prose I prefer, as a description of a dance scene: The heat shimmered off bodies, luxuriant, shifting like cobras, settling down upon Cellist in a fine haze, drowning him in scent, spicy, beguiling, lulling him with low tones, only to forcefully jerk him awake, to yank him into the congregation, whispering softly that it was by his own volition that he did this, until they were a single entity, a symphonic disharmony of noise and movement, unable to separate until so allowed.’
Not saying I hate prose that’s not like this because the majority of the books I read aren’t like this. Could be that I’m feeling cranky, but I was motivated to write this little rant after I’ve spent an age (less than a week) reading Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend.
by HotMudCoffee
3 Comments
So what would a ”lush, atmospheric” version of the same scene look like?
I don’t know if you’re out here fishing, but that was pretty atmospheric, imo.
I’m confused because “lush” prose is typically “dense” or heavily descriptive like you used as an example; heavy on adjectives, adverbs, and similes. “Atmospheric” typically refers to the sensory feel of prose, especially referring to scene and setting; you feeling the “atmosphere” of a selection of prose.
Maybe you’re thinking of “lyric” or “purple” prose? (Which are not necessarily interchangeable terms.) idk, it’s all pretty subjective regardless.