Thursday, January 6, 2011

"Anarchic inventive excursus"

That's what Alexander McCall Smith called this particular form of word play.

The character who indulges in it is Basil Wickramsinghe, from the recent Telegraph podcast of the second in his Corduroy Mansions series.

Basil is amusing himself with "anarchic inventive discursiveness" when he gets the opportunity to do his wonderful deed: reuniting the intrepid Pimlico terrier, Freddy de la Hay, with poor grieving William, who has given up on Freddy, and assumes he will not see him again.

Without his volition, Basil's mind runs on, thinking of parallel word groupings and inventing terms that rhyme or have uniquely parallel alliteration. It is his weakness, the reader is told, but what a charming weakness.

My daughter and I have that sometimes too. We have long conversations in which we indulge it.

Writers are supposed to be spare and sparing with their words, but some days it's fun just to revel in "anarchic inventive excursus."



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