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Question: What is your opinion of free verse in novels!?
I have seen some teen books that use it, but I find it hard to read!. What is your opinion!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I think that if it is written by great literary minds such as T!.S!. Elliot and Walt Whitman then it might be acceptable!. But a lot of the time it seems to be written by an author who doesn't have a firm grasp on what they really want to say!. It almost feels like you might be reading an unedited version of the novel!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, once I read a biography/autobiography called Yellow Star, and it was completely free verse!. I thought it fit well because it was in the frame of mind of a 5 or 6 year old girl so choppy sentences kind of fit the hectic pace!. I think that once you get used to the rhythm you can read it unhindered!. I don't know why, but it just seemed to add a lot to the story because they didn't just put it in diary form!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Irvine Welsh uses things like that quite a bit - as well as unusual typography, and he certainly isn't a teen's author!. It takes a while to get used to it, and I won't put up with it form many people, but - man - he does it so well!.

Palahniuk is like that too, there's somethings he does that I would be so immensely irritated by if it were anyone else, but with him it's like, 'Oh, that's Palahniuk for you!'

It is one of things that works when done well, but both of those two writers I mentioned write very poetically anyway so it doesn't really stand out when they do it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If it is done artistically through poetic thought and presentation, it can be beautiful

But often teen books that use this style tend to remind me of random thoughts being written down without correlationWww@QuestionHome@Com

It bores me!. In the old days people used to insert verse sections into novels to show off the author's talent or change the pace, but at this point it's just pretentiousness!.Www@QuestionHome@Com