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It doesn’t, really, which is okay, because the subtext here is that Pg is writing about essayistic writing, or more specifically, communicating ideas in the form of written words. I don’t think he is commenting on “good writing” in the sense of a novel or line of poetry.

Moby Dick is my go-to example of a novel that is incredibly well-written, but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly clear or straightforward in its presentation of ideas.

An example, if you haven’t read it:

”The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!”



Maybe the first paragraph could have been written less sweeping?


I don't think Paul knows that he's writing rhetoric and not prose.


Imo, that quote is clearly a train metaphor. But to your point, I do vaguely recall being unclear plenty when I read Moby Dick decades ago.


True, this quote is just one of my favorite from the book and I wanted to share it. There are definitely other more difficult lines in it.


I find that Moby Dick passage to be quite clear and straightforward. It uses metaphor, but a simple and direct one.




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