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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010Lapidary redux
I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, a novelist who I much admire for his breadth of scientific, musical literary knowledge. I'm sure I miss many of the allusions in his work but I find myself swept along by the ideas, although his characters are sometimes cypher-like. I find that his writing style can be quite challenging and his choice of words is sometimes startling. This sentence has just jumped off the page at me: "They creep back to Candace's through three lapidary blocks." He is describing people out on the streets of Chicago in an ice storm where the streets are like glass but his use of lapidary, while evocative, strikes me as all wrong. Or perhaps he is using lapidary in the bee sense and referring to apartment blocks? Perhaps I should write and ask him.  SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, *shuffles through memory* Oh, not Tim Powers. > a novelist who I much > admire for his breadth of scientific, musical literary knowledge. Hm. Maybe I should try him. > I'm > sure I miss many of the allusions in his work but I find myself swept [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > strikes me as all wrong. Or perhaps he is using lapidary in the bee > sense and referring to apartment blocks? Perhaps I should write and ask him. Maybe it's this sense from M-W: "2b : of, relating to, or suggestive of precious stones or the art of cutting them". Everything looks like jewels. What seems wrong about it? -- Jerry Friedman >> I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Hm. Maybe I should try him. He may be an acquired taste, I've never met anyone else who has read and enjoyed his stuff. "The Time of Our Singing" is probably the most straightforward (a very big book!). "The Gold Bug Variations" and "Galatea 2.2" are two I'll get round to rereading at some point. >> I'm >> sure I miss many of the allusions in his work but I find myself swept [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > What seems wrong about it? Possibly. Perhaps it's the conjunction with blocks that looks odd to me, being a Rightpondian. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >>> I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, >> [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > Possibly. Perhaps it's the conjunction with blocks that looks odd to me, > being a Rightpondian. If the blocks have just endured an ice storm, I can see the 'jewel' sense of the word. It's more commonly noticed on trees and bushes, but a thin layer of ice on anything can glitter like diamonds. SignatureCheryl > >>> I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > straightforward (a very big book!). "The Gold Bug Variations" and > > "Galatea 2.2" are two I'll get round to rereading at some point. ... They exist, though. At least, somebody gave him a National Book Award. > >>> I find that his writing style can be quite challenging and his choice of > >>> words is sometimes startling. This sentence has just jumped off the page [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Possibly. Perhaps it's the conjunction with blocks that looks odd to me, > > being a Rightpondian. Since you speak American, I don't have to tell you it's a distance, not blocks of flats. (But I might have to tell some here.) > If the blocks have just endured an ice storm, I can see the 'jewel' > sense of the word. It's more commonly noticed on trees and bushes, but a > thin layer of ice on anything can glitter like diamonds. Indeed. I think it's "a space of three blocks in which everything was glittering like diamonds". -- Jerry Friedman >>>>> I am reading "Generosity" by Richard Powers, >>>> *shuffles through memory* Oh, not Tim Powers. [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Indeed. I think it's "a space of three blocks in which everything was > glittering like diamonds". Or "not yet dilapidated". SignatureJames > I find that his writing style can be quite challenging and his choice of > words is sometimes startling. This sentence has just jumped off the page [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > strikes me as all wrong. Or perhaps he is using lapidary in the bee > sense and referring to apartment blocks? Perhaps I should write and ask him. Could he be saying that the ice is sparkling and jewel-like? SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email >> I find that his writing style can be quite challenging and his choice of >> words is sometimes startling. This sentence has just jumped off the page [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Could he be saying that the ice is sparkling and jewel-like? Yes, that's want I meant by evocative but it's not quite the precise definition of the adjectival use of the word. Unusual for this author. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) LFS filted: >I find that his writing style can be quite challenging and his choice of >words is sometimes startling. This sentence has just jumped off the page [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >strikes me as all wrong. Or perhaps he is using lapidary in the bee >sense and referring to apartment blocks? Perhaps I should write and ask him. I know that New York and Los Angeles each has a recognizable "diamond district"...does Chicago?...r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? Re: "They creep back to Candace's through three lapidary blocks." AHD: _adj_ Sharply or finely delineated: 'a face with lapidary features'. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ > Re: "They creep back to Candace's through three lapidary blocks." > > AHD: _adj_ Sharply or finely delineated: 'a face with lapidary features'. More likely AHD: "Of or relating to precious stones or the art of working with them." -- Jerry Friedman >> Re: "They creep back to Candace's through three lapidary blocks." >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > More likely AHD: "Of or relating to precious stones or the art of > working with them." I don't see that there's much to say which sense was felt by the author, but I daresay that both seem to apply is some modest testimonial to his skills. In any event, the OP seemed unsure that there was any applicable sense. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ > >> Re: "They creep back to Candace's through threelapidaryblocks." > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I don't see that there's much to say which sense was felt by the author, An ice storm makes things look like cabochon jewels, not like monumental carved stone. The comparison is unoriginal, which is probably why he made it in such a terse way. > but I daresay that both seem to apply is some modest testimonial to his > skills. ... I went down the garden path of "I daresay that both seem to apply", and I thought you'd made some kind of error. But now I see that "that both seem to apply" is the subject of "is", and the relative "that" after "daresay" is omitted. -- Jerry Friedman |
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