Saturday, August 27, 2005

Your input demanded. No, requested. No, politely groveled for. But not bribed for, because I'm cheap like that

Google comes up blank when you search for the phrase "literary representations of motion". This is a hole that I'd like to see filled, and I'm drawing a total blank. So I turn to you, oh vast, infinite, sexy Internet, and ask: where have you seen motion best depicted in fiction? (Or, really, in any written form; but I really want examples drawn from fiction, for reasons I can't quite explain.)

I can tell you this in return: the band Godspeed You Black Emperor! absolutely nails the musical equivalent of motion on the track "Sleep" (track one of disc two of Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!). Every time, every time I listen to these 23-odd minutes of music, I'm made to fly, without ever standing. I'm a little more amazed by it every time I hear it.

And, okay, I'll even toss off a tentative example of literary motion (though not one from fiction, damn my brain): chapter two of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The driving, the throwing of frisbees. Good stuff.

2 comments:

Brandon said...

i'm always drawn to descriptions of swimming (howard roark in fountainhead, janey in rain).

Anonymous said...

For my money, check kids' lit. For instance, from Six Snowy Sheep by Judith Enderle et al: "...Shmoosh! Into a snowbank."

But I should mention that the money's not all that much.