broken abbey One writer's thoughts…

“Dress of White Silk”

Telling a story from a child's point of view is a challenge.  Telling it in a child's language is a challenge as well.  This piece was a little difficult for me to get engaged with because of Matheson's lack of punctuation and the poor grammar (both intentional).  This has the feel of an experimental piece.

I think that to be an effective writer at this sort of thing takes a lot of practice.  I kept thinking of Cormac McCarthy and his breaking of the rules.  I think the challenge put to the reader must be rewarded by the payoff, and in this case, I don't think the payoff was worth it.  A good story, yes, but I think it would have been just as effective told with more conventional grammar and just using the child's point of view.

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