The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.
Roald DahlRead
There are many other little refinements too, Mr. Bohlen. You'll see them all when you study the plans carefully. For example, there's a trick that nearly every writer uses, of inserting at least one long, obscure word into each story. This makes the reader think that the man is very wise and clever. So I have the machine do the same thing. There'll be a whole stack of long words stored away just for this purpose." Where?" In the 'word-memory' section," he said, epexegetically.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the use of complex language in writing to create an illusion of intelligence.
In this quote, Roald Dahl humorously highlights a literary technique where writers intentionally include obscure words to impress readers and give off an air of sophistication. This observation points to the tendency in art and literature to prioritize style over clarity, showcasing how superficial sophistication can be achieved through the mere use of complicated language.
Themes
WritingLanguageObscurityLiteratureSophistication
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, this quote could be used to discuss the balance between complexity and clarity in storytelling.
More from Roald Dahl
All quotes →Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable.
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I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to have stories that deal with death and explain it, as a place to put their fears.
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By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.
Roald DahlRead
You seemed so far away," Miss Honey whispered, awestruck. "Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings," Matilda said. "It was wonderful.
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If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
Roald DahlRead
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