I am currently reading The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard and I’m finding it pretty jarring that the author refuses to use quotation marks. When characters are speaking to one another it reads like a stream of consciousness, rather than a conversation, and gives the book a slightly “dream like” feel, which might be what the author is going for… I’m undecided at this point. I’m really starting to miss quotation marks though because they are just so useful!
I’d like to hear your thoughts on why the author would choose to write this way, if you think there’s an advantage to it, and if you’ve come across this particular breaking-of-conventions in any other books.
by clumsyguy
2 Comments
I hated this book with a passion that cannot be understated. Nothing about it makes sense, the author just throws stuff in, and he does not care if it works. I feel like the lack of quotation marks is just another example of that.
The truth is that you can get away without quotation marks if you put a lot of care into making sure that your reader knows who speaking. Cormac McCarthy did a brilliant job on this in his earlier books and I feel like he really set the trend, and I’m reading a book right now that does it and it’s always very clear who’s speaking. If it isn’t, it’s because the writer either can’t be bothered or has overestimated their abilities.
Which is also true of the conceit, the time travel,
and the ‘character arc’ of that book. Good luck! I hope you like it more than I did.
I’ve read books like that, and honestly I like it. It does have to fit the story, because sometimes it will not be clear if a sentence is dialogue or narration, and the author has to either avoid that ambiguity or use it effectively. But when it’s well done, it’s great!