Book Quote by Jim Thompson
“In lots of books I read, the writer seems to go haywire every time he reaches a high point. He’ll start leaving out punctuation and running his words together and babble about stars flashing and sinking into a deep dreamless sea. And you can’t figure out whether the hero’s laying his girl or a cornerstone. I guess that kind of crap is supposed to be pretty deep stuff—a lot of the book reviewers eat it up, I notice. But the way I see it is, the writer is just too goddam lazy to do his job. And I’m not lazy, whatever else I am. I’ll tell you everything.”
About This Quote
The author’s exaggerated style is blamed on laziness rather than artistic intent, suggesting pretentiousness in literature.
In simple terms: Writer’s over‑the‑top style is seen as lazy.
Key Takeaway
Question superficiality in writing.
Themes
literature
authorship
pretension
Mood
skeptical
irritated
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- book reviews
- creative writing workshops
- literary criticism
- reading groups
Key Concepts
lazy writing
artistic intent
critical analysis
Questions to Reflect On
- What makes a passage feel deep?
- How to distinguish style from laziness?
A Different Perspective
Not all complex prose is lazy; some serves purpose.
![“So, you see, it's a real chore for me to write a book review because it's like a contest. It's like I'm writing that book review for every bad book reviewer I've ever known and it's a way of saying [thrusts a middle finger into the air] this is how you ought to do it. I like to rub their noses in…” quote by John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5d/john-irving-337_air_so-you-see-it-s-a-real-chore-for-me-to-w_1152495.jpg)
