Uploaded July 2015 | Updated September 2026, 36 minutes ago
Marten uses short sentences and short paragraphs. Usually this has the effect of making the narrative move faster but in Marten it's the reverse. Because each phrase and word is so carefully chosen and so unpredictable that the reader has to slow down and let it sink, otherwise brain gets chewed up like barbed wire, going back and forth. There's more at stake when a writer chooses to slow things down and keep things succinct, especially when the writer dabbles in leaving so much out. It gets to where what is left in is fighting against what is left out, for the greater meaning. Which then makes it challenging for the writer because there's always the temptation to leave things unsaid. But I don't think Marten succumbs to that too often. It's a fine line. At the end things are cut up so much that when you fan it out you see something that's beautiful but so skeletal and frail. And you feel like the pieces that are missing were once part of your brain.
Other links to check out:
Gordon Lish talking about Eugene Marten:
youtube.com/watch?v=ASeC-euPf04
Eugene Marten book reading:
youtube.com/watch?v=fi8TwhR3NFY
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Goodreads: tinyurl.com/jsuw4se
Twitter: twitter.com/PaperBirdBooks
Twitter: twitter.com/freshwipe
Instagram: instagram.com/paperbirdbooks
Blog: dumpygirls.blogspot.com
Email: freshwipe@gmail.com
Marten uses short sentences and short paragraphs. Usually this has the effect of making the narrative move faster but in Marten it's the reverse. Because each phrase and word is so carefully chosen and so unpredictable that the reader has to slow down and let it sink, otherwise brain gets chewed up like barbed wire, going back and forth. There's more at stake when a writer chooses to slow things down and keep things succinct, especially when the writer dabbles in leaving so much out. It gets to where what is left in is fighting against what is left out, for the greater meaning. Which then makes it challenging for the writer because there's always the temptation to leave things unsaid. But I don't think Marten succumbs to that too often. It's a fine line. At the end things are cut up so much that when you fan it out you see something that's beautiful but so skeletal and frail. And you feel like the pieces that are missing were once part of your brain.
Other links to check out:
Gordon Lish talking about Eugene Marten:
youtube.com/watch?v=ASeC-euPf04
Eugene Marten book reading:
youtube.com/watch?v=fi8TwhR3NFY
--------------------
Goodreads: tinyurl.com/jsuw4se
Twitter: twitter.com/PaperBirdBooks
Twitter: twitter.com/freshwipe
Instagram: instagram.com/paperbirdbooks
Blog: dumpygirls.blogspot.com
Email: freshwipe@gmail.com
