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Meta
John O’Hara.
You can hear it.
John O’Hara.
You can hear it.
Pete Fromm is a master of dialogue
Pete Fromm is a master of dialogue
David Mammett
It sounds real at first, but then on a second time through you realize that no one every talked that cool
David Mammett
It sounds real at first, but then on a second time through you realize that no one every talked that cool
noah cicero.
it’s how me and people i know talk. and it’s honest. painfully so at times.
noah cicero.
it’s how me and people i know talk. and it’s honest. painfully so at times.
william gaddis: tape-recorder realistic, still rhythmic
mary robison: juiced for the good bits but faithful to colloquialism
william gaddis: tape-recorder realistic, still rhythmic
mary robison: juiced for the good bits but faithful to colloquialism
classic mamet one-liner: “action talks and bullshit walks.” american buffalo.
countless others. would need a seperate thread to cover them all.
classic mamet one-liner: “action talks and bullshit walks.” american buffalo.
countless others. would need a seperate thread to cover them all.
A casual query: do you folks have any love for Stanley Elkin’s dialogue? It is not so much realist, but it is certainly reflective — just as Gaddis’s party scenes are. Invaluable if one is hunting through time searching for necessary impressions that are conducive to the imagination.
A casual query: do you folks have any love for Stanley Elkin’s dialogue? It is not so much realist, but it is certainly reflective — just as Gaddis’s party scenes are. Invaluable if one is hunting through time searching for necessary impressions that are conducive to the imagination.
Elkin is the boss.
Elkin is the boss.
Mamet is very gritty, and from an actor’s standpoint, very fun to perform. I would say the same about David Ives, who does a similar style, albeit slightly more cerebral. Less rawness.
Mamet is very gritty, and from an actor’s standpoint, very fun to perform. I would say the same about David Ives, who does a similar style, albeit slightly more cerebral. Less rawness.
everyone writes good dialogue
everyone writes good dialogue
yeah, “the magic kingdom” especially.
yeah, “the magic kingdom” especially.
Richard Maxwell. The Coen Brothers. James Ellroy. Stephen Dixon. Dash Shaw. Matthew Roberson. Emmanuel Carrere. Magnus Mills. James Purdy. Muriel Spark. DeLillo. Curtis White. Stephen Wright. Didion. Chris Ware. Phoebe Gloeckner. DFW. Pinter. Will Eno. Martin McDonough. Percival Everett. Johnny Ryan. Nathanael West. Elaine May.
They all have their own style.
Richard Maxwell. The Coen Brothers. James Ellroy. Stephen Dixon. Dash Shaw. Matthew Roberson. Emmanuel Carrere. Magnus Mills. James Purdy. Muriel Spark. DeLillo. Curtis White. Stephen Wright. Didion. Chris Ware. Phoebe Gloeckner. DFW. Pinter. Will Eno. Martin McDonough. Percival Everett. Johnny Ryan. Nathanael West. Elaine May.
They all have their own style.
Raymond Queneau in Zazie in the Metro. It’s maybe my favorite kind of dialogue—not natural speech, but what natural speech would sound like if the world were a more fun place. Like Mamet, it’s sort of clipped and fast and rolls off the tongue and down the street, weaving back and forth among slower pedestrians.
i just realized that this is a poorly formed question. this question could mean:
1. the choice of what to include
2. the importance of what is said to what it says about something else (maybe that is another kind of dialogue, namely the dialogue what characters speaking have with the rest of the book)
3. how the dialogue replaces non-dialogue
4. i am sure people will interpret the question to also mean how realistic it is
5. amount
6. other shit
7. maybe how the object speaking in the book must, if indirectly, say something to the reader.
8. how the dialogue speaks to alternatives in the book.
9. other shit
Raymond Queneau in Zazie in the Metro. It’s maybe my favorite kind of dialogue—not natural speech, but what natural speech would sound like if the world were a more fun place. Like Mamet, it’s sort of clipped and fast and rolls off the tongue and down the street, weaving back and forth among slower pedestrians.
i just realized that this is a poorly formed question. this question could mean:
1. the choice of what to include
2. the importance of what is said to what it says about something else (maybe that is another kind of dialogue, namely the dialogue what characters speaking have with the rest of the book)
3. how the dialogue replaces non-dialogue
4. i am sure people will interpret the question to also mean how realistic it is
5. amount
6. other shit
7. maybe how the object speaking in the book must, if indirectly, say something to the reader.
8. how the dialogue speaks to alternatives in the book.
9. other shit
you suck i hate you
you suck i hate you
which number corresponds with why you asked it.
it would be weird to read a book that is two people at a restaurant who take turns talking, and they collaboratively tell one story as if a separate narrator.
which number corresponds with why you asked it.
it would be weird to read a book that is two people at a restaurant who take turns talking, and they collaboratively tell one story as if a separate narrator.
if i remember right, i just randomly thought the word dialogue and then thought about how sometimes it’s my favorite part of something and how sometimes there is barely any and i don’t miss it.
if i remember right, i just randomly thought the word dialogue and then thought about how sometimes it’s my favorite part of something and how sometimes there is barely any and i don’t miss it.
okay
okay
Fuck all these other teams. Elkin should win the superbowl.
Fuck all these other teams. Elkin should win the superbowl.
Charles Portis!
Charles Portis!
Richard Price!
Richard Price!
Julie Hecht
She : Thomas Bernhard :: Eugene Lim or Jesse Ball : Robert Walser
Julie Hecht
She : Thomas Bernhard :: Eugene Lim or Jesse Ball : Robert Walser
Walser Society: haha!
Dialogue: Pinter forever! Also: Schnitzler, Beckett, Gifford, Nabokov.
ps. every one of my favourite authors writes good dialogue.
What is good? Different kinds of embodiment, detailing of a specific voice, the development of a voice I have never heard before, embedding new social tensions in dialogue, awareness of silence, ellipsis… We could talk about this forever really. But this question should be asked. Some prose writers are afraid of dialogue and it shows.
Walser Society: haha!
Dialogue: Pinter forever! Also: Schnitzler, Beckett, Gifford, Nabokov.
ps. every one of my favourite authors writes good dialogue.
What is good? Different kinds of embodiment, detailing of a specific voice, the development of a voice I have never heard before, embedding new social tensions in dialogue, awareness of silence, ellipsis… We could talk about this forever really. But this question should be asked. Some prose writers are afraid of dialogue and it shows.
Lipsyte. Hannah.
Lipsyte. Hannah.
Cormac McCarthy– despite all his warts i liked his dialogue…..
Cormac McCarthy– despite all his warts i liked his dialogue…..
E L M O R E L E O N A R D
E L M O R E L E O N A R D
Adam Robinson
Adam Robinson
agreed.
agreed.
Queneau. Cortazar. Bolano.
Queneau. Cortazar. Bolano.
amen
amen
this is ‘sort of’ what danielewski’s fifty year sword does but it doesn’t really seem important to the book itself
this is ‘sort of’ what danielewski’s fifty year sword does but it doesn’t really seem important to the book itself
mike leigh. sure, it’s also his actors, and a lot is improvised, but i’ve thought watching his movies, ‘dialogue as brilliant as shakespeare.’
mike leigh. sure, it’s also his actors, and a lot is improvised, but i’ve thought watching his movies, ‘dialogue as brilliant as shakespeare.’
Top of my list: Edward Albee for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. Especially when delivered by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Over two hours of glorious, sustained, crazy-good etc etc etc
Tennessee Williams.
Quentin Tarantino for “Pulp Fiction”‘s “composed” script, delivered by a killer cast. “I’m a mushroom cloud layin’ motherfucker, motherfucker.”
Top of my list: Edward Albee for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. Especially when delivered by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Over two hours of glorious, sustained, crazy-good etc etc etc
Tennessee Williams.
Quentin Tarantino for “Pulp Fiction”‘s “composed” script, delivered by a killer cast. “I’m a mushroom cloud layin’ motherfucker, motherfucker.”
Agreed.
I do find it interesting (and cool) that many of the comments have focused on theater and cinema. Have you ever seen “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” on stage? In a small environment, black box sort of environment, it can be even more intense.
Agreed.
I do find it interesting (and cool) that many of the comments have focused on theater and cinema. Have you ever seen “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” on stage? In a small environment, black box sort of environment, it can be even more intense.
Second Pinter, second Beckett. And Pinter for his pauses as much as his dialogue. When I acted, I never felt dialogue was more at home in my mouth yet more strange and shifting and dangerous than when it was a Pinter or Beckett play. It was like being given multiple personality disorder and immense verbal clarity all at the same time.
It that makes any sense.
Second Pinter, second Beckett. And Pinter for his pauses as much as his dialogue. When I acted, I never felt dialogue was more at home in my mouth yet more strange and shifting and dangerous than when it was a Pinter or Beckett play. It was like being given multiple personality disorder and immense verbal clarity all at the same time.
It that makes any sense.
What about worst dialogue ever from a great writer? Or is that even possible?
What about worst dialogue ever from a great writer? Or is that even possible?
Burroughs. Great dialogue
Burroughs. Great dialogue
Twain. Howells. Wilde. Bogosian. Elmore Leonard (I’m glad someone brought him up). Hanif Kureishi.
Twain. Howells. Wilde. Bogosian. Elmore Leonard (I’m glad someone brought him up). Hanif Kureishi.
I saw a production where the audience was on stage with the actors. I was hit by flying glass. It was remarkable
I saw a production where the audience was on stage with the actors. I was hit by flying glass. It was remarkable
Haha! Good one.
Haha! Good one.
Wodehouse
Wodehouse
mark twain
mark twain