Loaded Sentences

After reading Joe Finck's essay on Jim Thompson I decided I had to read After Dark, My Sweet. And I did. And it was great.

It reminded me several times how hard it is to pivot between sections or scenes with a good loaded-sentence, you know, one that sounds well constructed, it's short, precise, and loaded with information. It can be tough to create one that doesn't feel tacked on, like a cliffhanger in a serial TV show, or a children's book chapter ending. There are two sentences in particular that were so well crafted I can't stop thinking about them, it kind of makes my feet fall asleep.

The final sentence in the book, "I just kind of stopped all over," and a sentence in one of the final chapters that resides on it's own, "Rushing towards the end." Both of those sentences are so great. Very precise, retaining the odd voice of the narrator, who is unreliable and unstable. So, good. Nothing more right now, just a short bit of nonsense about what I am thinking about.

Maybe it's just that I'm sitting on my feet. That could be why they are sleeping. Ok. That's it now. Shut it down.

Wait, anything else? Yes. Read "Weegee Stories" by Robert Olen Butler. It's pretty awesome, the kind of shit that might shatter a puffin's cute little porcelain face. He does flash better than just about anyone.