11–20 of 22 posts
"E-mail entries should be in the body of the message, not in an attachment (and it would be really swell if you submitted your entries in Arial 12 font)." I don't understand. Maybe because I've only used Mutt for 20 years. Is it a joke?
It is time to ask what has tormented me for years. What's so bad about "It was a dark and stormy night"? It seems decent enough. "Dark night" is redundant, I guess, but then some nights are darker than others. So I don't get it—why the worst-ever reputation?
There's nothing bad about the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night" per se. However, that's not the full opening line. What follows is the most abysmally convoluted sentence imaginable: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the houset…
I was going to enter this several years ago (late '80s), but never got around to sending in my entries. I have no shame, so here is what I was going to send (warning: tasteless and offensive material ahead): • "My encounter with the Genie didn't turn out half bad," thought Lance as he sat down at the tiny piano to rehearse for his new job with the circus. • David Ben MacGoldstein was considered cheap even by the othe…
It is time to ask what has tormented me for years. What's so bad about "It was a dark and stormy night"? It seems decent enough. "Dark night" is redundant, I guess, but then some nights are darker than others. So I don't get it—why the worst-ever reputation?
I don't think it's bad on its own, it's just cliched. I think its frequent use in the "Peanuts" comic brought it to widespread anti-fame. To me, starting a story (or movie) in the middle a giant fight scene, and then jumping "12 hours earlier" is the contemporary equivalent lazy opening. It just means you're not trying, you're relying on convention to create drama.
It is time to ask what has tormented me for years. What's so bad about "It was a dark and stormy night"? It seems decent enough. "Dark night" is redundant, I guess, but then some nights are darker than others. So I don't get it—why the worst-ever reputation?
There's nothing bad about the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night" per se. However, that's not the full opening line. What follows is the most abysmally convoluted sentence imaginable: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the houset…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing bad about the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night" per se. However, that's not the full opening line. What follows is the most abysmally convoluted sentence imaginable: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the houset…
And the opening paragraph gets worse from there, something about lighting his pipe with a "promethean torch." Whether it's a change in tastes over the years, or a continuing annoyance is subject to debate, but the general style is called "Purple Prose". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_prose
Sample some mass-market Victorian fiction, and you'll find a lot of openers like that one. The style is anachronistic today, though it survives in some genres, and it has its famous practitioners. (George R.R. Martin is about as purple as they come.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing bad about the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night" per se. However, that's not the full opening line. What follows is the most abysmally convoluted sentence imaginable: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the houset…
That's not unduly convoluted for Victorian English. It's mostly concrete language that sets up a scene pretty well. I'd say it isn't half bad, and surely not the worst opening sentence of any English novel. There has to be some other reason why it acquired that status.
Charles Shculz, the creator of the Peanuts comic, regularly poked fun at Bulwer-Lytton's "It was a dark and stormy night..." until it became a running joke. Since Peanuts was published for nearly 50 years, the joke was well known.
The Bulwer-Lytton writing contest started quite a long time ago (80's) at San Jose State University, but I remember it was originally called a "Bad Writing Contest." Some support for my failing meatware memory can be found here:
http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/about.html
The only fashion that never goes out of style is poking fun at past fashions.
I like the general tone of the page. "Finally, in keeping with the gravitas, high seriousness, and general bignitude of the contest, the grand prize winner will receive … a pittance."
I was going to enter this several years ago (late '80s), but never got around to sending in my entries. I have no shame, so here is what I was going to send (warning: tasteless and offensive material ahead): • "My encounter with the Genie didn't turn out half bad," thought Lance as he sat down at the tiny piano to rehearse for his new job with the circus. • David Ben MacGoldstein was considered cheap even by the othe…