Word: dictional
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...writer to begin renaissance in a tired form he needs to introduce a diction, tone and sensibility that somehow sums up his era and delineates an artistic program for it. One thinks of the short stories of Fitzgerald or the works of Hemingway. But Helprin's art seems produced in almost complete withdrawal from the contemporary scene. He strives for "loveliness" above all else, a tasteful--but hardly compelling--goal for a young writer today, the world and the collective psyche being what they are. Thus, one can hardly call Helprin a voice of our times. Instead, he chooses...
...Neat shaping of sentences and admirable technical confidence do not make up for a lack of that obscure energy that transforms les mots justes into great writing. In some ways the style belongs to the 18th century when Sam Johnson arbited style, and was always harping on about prudent diction and the dangers of passion...
...HAVE more trouble with the dramatic control demanded by an English libretto. Operatic music with intelligible words is disconcerting enough to require a great deal of concentration, especially as the words are usually so silly, and only Brumit as Dulcamara is at ease enough with the intricacies of the diction to maintain a strong dramatic presence...
...bars is a study in incongruities. She once ran her own kingdom, the Madeira School, where heed was paid and homage given to the headmistress. She once presided over gourmet luncheons, toast and tea, with women who would come and go, talking of Michelangelo. But white gloves and perfect diction are not exactly called for in an American prison. She no longer manages an institution. It manages...
Leonid Brezhnev had been speaking a mere seven minutes-before live television cameras-at the opening session of the 26th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party. Characteristically, the ailing, 74-year-old leader had limped to the podium, and his diction was slurred. Then the television image suddenly switched from the meeting to a studio announcer, who read the remaining 3½ hours of Brezhnev's text. The unsettling cut appeared to be an attempt to draw attention away from the Soviet leader's infirmities, but it had the opposite effect. For a time, in fact, it obscured...