tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141692052011-04-21T18:37:15.152-07:00Promiscuously reading great and not-so-great literature since 1996.Excellent Walkernoreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14169205.post-1120438845765957452005-07-03T17:54:00.000-07:002006-11-14T06:25:13.220-08:00I hate it when I don't finish the book in time for book group. This time, there was really no good excuse -- The Kite Runner (by Khaled Hosseini), while 400 pages, was an incredibly fast read. Ann objected to his telegraphing his intention to use hackneyed literary conventions. There were a lot of coincidences in the second half that strained credibility.<br /><br />I was surprised this paragraph, and several like it that followed, survived the editor's pen:<br /><br />"A creative writing teacher at San Jose State used to say about cliches: 'Avoid them like the plague.' Then he'd laugh at his own joke. The class laughed along with him, but I always thought cliches got a bum rap. Because, often, they're dead on. But the aptness of the cliched saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliche. For example, 'the elephant in the room' saying. Nothing could more correctly describe the intial moments of my reunion with Rahim Khan."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14169205-112043884576595745?l=tinyhandsociety.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Excellent Walkernoreply@blogger.com5