On language

I read old literature a lot. I have read current literature a lot as well. And even though there is a lot that I disagree on with the philosophies of those old writers, there is still so much wisdom that I do agree with. Wisdom that they gained from their own life and observations. 

I can't help but marvel at their eloquence, how they do not use simple English. I highly value how they are able to use complex words which convey so perfectly what they want to convey with such finesse, the way they so fully seem to use the tools that language provides.

I disagree with the ones who vehemently purport the use of simple English and laud the skill required to do so. Okay, I agree with the latter, it does require skill and is sometimes needed. But when and where you can use complex English, you should be free to do so. It is playing with words on difficulty high. I aspire to reach there.

I do not care much for simple boring sentences that tell you things but do not infuse you with feelings. I want richness in literature. And no, not technical richness, as you must have gathered. Not the kind that is necessitated by accuracy. But the richness that is not just accurate but more than that. I want the beauty of wordplay that is dominant in poetry, in prose too.

Pieces of literature where you read a sentence and you reread it a couple more times to understand all the meaning that it has been packed with such that your jaw slowly drops while you soak it in and you are momentarily stunned, stilled.

I really cannot help but point out a very obvious gap in the level of intricacy in old writing and new. I am not saying that everything should be complexly written or with flowery language but that there is a dearth. For example, I also love reading suspense thrillers of today with not so complex language. Novels like the 'Millennium' series would lose their identity and unique hold on you if they use flowery language. They have their own magic. The adventurous books like the 'Percy Jackson' series. The simple language is fun and keeps you hooked in its own way. 'the five people you meet in heaven' by Mitch Albom did give me heartwarming feels. The literature, although not complex, had a poetry to it and it was perfect the way it was.

What triggered me into blogging all this was reading something that Rabindranath Tagore had written. It was a something philosophical. It had views that I disagreed with a lot but it did not anger me which is my usual response while disagreeing, for he was so good at penning them down. He so expertly put forth his line of thought that I started marvelling at it. It imbibed me with an awe for the skill of writing. And this is the case with other writers of the bygone period too. I read what they have written which if it is something that I don't agree with and would have been said by someone in simple words to my face, would have raised my temper! But I do not get angry when I read the same in old literature for the language is so good, such skilled use! You see, even scientific and philosophical literature were written artfully, embellished with descriptive examples making good use of imagery. 

Should reading current literature on positive psychology bore me? It did. Sadly, it did. It had interesting content but the language,...sigh. 

Well that was the trigger; but what prompted me entirely was actually a little more than that. It reminded of how we have been giving so much of our writing work to AI now so I have decided that I would not use AI so much for the sentences but for the information I require.

But "overall"(as ChatGPT would conclude) there is this intricate playfulness which is missing a little too much for me and needs being acknowledged in today's literature.