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RE: Meet my guest, John Cheever, on this edition of Words to Learn
Ah yes. A great summary and list of resources, @jayna.
I'm not entirely convinced that today's 'modern' reader can handle the same vocabulary that our literary forefathers rolled out with practiced ease. But, in the right context and writing style, a massive vocabulary is an asset; a pool to draw from to enable you to pick the right word in the right situation. One just has to know when to scale back that pool to something smaller when writing for a more...casual audience.
I agree! That's one of the things I loved about C.S. Lewis. He had a MASSIVE vocabulary, which is quite evident when you read most of his books. But The Chronicles of Narnia he scaled back quite a bit since he was writing them for children. But scaling back doesn't mean you forsake the quality of your writing. I love how he did it for Narnia, and I believe anyone can be capable of it.
Agreed on all counts. If we tried to write in the style of Cheever today’s wouldn’t fly. I like the term “literary forefathers.” But as you said, the right word at the right time can be a wonderful thing.