Yesterday the mail-lady dropped "Winter's Bone" by Daniel Woodrell into my mailbox and I've just closed the cover on the last chapter. It's been a long time since I've lost myself so completely in the words of an author. I'll admit that it took me a couple of chapters to get past all the description but as I kept reading the descriptions folded themselves into the story so's you didn't notice them so much.
What a beautiful book and not the story I was expecting from previous novels I've read by Mr. Woodrell. If you haven't had a chance to read this book, find a copy and dive in. The only downside for me, was realizing I was never going to be able to write such beautiful prose, but it will be something I'll strive for in future writing.
I've been struggling with the concept of noir in my own writing but this quote from Mr. Woodrell has put that struggle into perspective for me.
"The use of the term noir is too limiting. When I first used "country noir" to describe my work I didn't realize that, but the word noir is defined so many ways by so many people that it is essentially useless as a descriptive term. And my own definition is very strict, has definite requirements, especially for endings, and I don't always want the music of the ending to be preordained by allegiance to form or structure."
Words to write by, my friends, words to write by. Let the story sing its own song.
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