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Post by dormouse on Jul 5, 2019 18:49:01 GMT
A character from Agatha Christie's Crooked House. One of the more lively descriptions in the book. That relative liveliness made the character more endearing, which may have been the author's purpose. Hard not to root for small and ugly. I think our picture of goblins now is rather different having been restructured by Tolkien and D&D.
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Post by dormouse on Jul 5, 2019 19:54:11 GMT
The is the major part of the initial description of one of the major characters in Leonora Meriel's The Unity Game. Describes his being, character and circumstances as much as his visual appearance. A slowish, literary style, but I think it's good. And this is the description of the main alien character. There's an attempt to make it really alien, but that also makes it hard for the reader to visualise (I never succeeded). I don't know how well it works; it is effective enough - the reader can assimilate what they need - and it achieves a feeling of 'other', and it contrasts well with the easily pictured human characters (one nice, one not so nice), but it slows things down. Not the only thing to slow things down, and that variation of pace is one of the features of the book. But a very challenging thing to attempt, which is why aliens are usually described as similar to something we can already picture.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Jul 6, 2019 1:57:37 GMT
I remember the book now you've shared the descriptions. I couldn't recall by the title if I'd read that one or not, but I have. I can't say I have ever identified with any of her characters, so I don't pay too much attention to them, nor how they're described. I just want to know whodunnit.
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