Comments

OK, OK...I got it..:)

Posted by Mike Neiss at May 19, 2008 12:53 PM

Me too!

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 20, 2008 12:02 PM

Personally, I think BLACK SWAN is a lil’ too long. I have read both FBR & BS and I am of the opinion that FBR is indeed a much better (and shorter!) book – primarily because it has fewer pages!!? The point is TO CONVEY THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE WITH EASE & MINIMAL USAGE OF WORDS – If something can be said in 10 lines…why write a hundred?

Posted by K.Sriram at May 21, 2008 2:25 AM

Writing is about painting pictures. While there is value in being succinct, there is also value in words that paint pictures that require greater length. What it boils down to for me is how the writer writes what is written to create pictures.

Perhaps some of our greatest novels and management books could have been edited, but maybe not. Minimal usage of words do not necessarily amount to brilliant writing and neither does lengthy lines.

As Cathy said on this blog recently, we know when long is too long, probably when the writing has lost its desire to inspire.

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 21, 2008 3:59 AM

Just got The Black Swan yesterday and I am LOVING it! One thing that struck me immediately in the prologue is that when the author speaks of the sightings of black swans he indicates that many have sent him pictures since the book, indicating that they are "quite ugly." Something struck me profoundly about this statement.

Purity, beauty, elegance and others such words associated with whiteness and by extension the color of swans are perhaps colored by by the assualt on consciousness of what whiteness entails. Such distinction such as "white swans" was never even a part of my consciousness, nor have I ever read of it in any books. SWANS ARE WHITE! Can anybody say SWAN LAKE!

Can you picture all the beauty of Tchaikovsky's music and the whiteness of the set, costumes, and ballerinas. Now imagine blackness on the same set being performed to the same music. Weird, eh? But to whom? Blackness is without doubt associated with darkness, ominous things, evil and other such words are in reverse associated in our consciousness. I can clearly see how such descriptives as "quite ugly" could be readily associated with black swans, although I'm sure their elegance and grace on the water is no different.

We may have all in the West have had the same reaction of the first sighting of black swans. Collective cultural consciousness is no joke, nor is our narrow understanding of the possible and our inability to see beyond what our physical eyes can see. Such matters need addressing (this book seems to be so relevant int his regard), for our world is indeed flatter than ever and our dependence on one another seems to be greater still.

Did I say that I am LOVING this book! If you will indulge me, I may have more to say later. I hope that others are reading this book too and will write of their impressions. This is a very important book. I see why TP admonished that we read it so strongly: "READ IT! DAMMIT!"

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 25, 2008 11:59 AM