Loon Lake and writing

[Ring]

Having run out of things to read I perused my library of previously read books and pulled out Loon Lake by E.L. Doctorow. I’m now about two thirds done, and all and all I think it’s a pretty good read. But it seems to be somewhat needlessly confusing and contains some pretty strange sentence structure. (I can’t punctuate and I’m a terrible writer so the fact that I think a sentence is strange doesn’t mean a lot.)

In any case I’m interested in what you literate people think about the following sentence. It seems a little bazaar to me, and the only reason for its existence I can discern is to emphasize the last few words. Is there a name for this kind of writing?

The overhead wires gather the last light in silver lines an inadequately popu¬lated city in the bakery window there is no bread in the grocery no milk everyone knows something he does not know he waves at a passing car black ignoring him he begins to run stores closed where has he been follows men walking following other men walking stays close stays in step hears now a human sound of population turns a corner a suddenly il¬luminated warehouse great golden light pouring through the doors they are all going here and suddenly he is inside the clatter of plates and flatware, the steam of soup and the skyline of sliced bread he knows what to do it is twenty-five cents, a bowl of soup two slices of bread gobs of tub butter stew mashed potatoes an apple coffee in a tin cup twenty-five cents rows of sawhorse tables in endless lines refectory benches under the warehouse lights animation conversation all men thousands of men eating dinner and down at the end of one table at the far end in front of his tray in wonder Warren Penfield poet coat open the sound is of raucous life chopped fine in silver flutes and strings and drumfeet and shimmering lifesong the men eat hot food drink strong coffee it is not Ludlow it is not billets it is not distant thunder it is not the whingwhir of machine guns it is the General Strike of Seattle February 6, 1919, the first of its kind in the whole history of the United States of America.

[John_Kentzel-Griffin]

Thsi thread is better suited to Cafe Society. I’ll move it for you.

DrMatrix - GQ Moderator

[susan]

“Stream of consciousness.”