Friday, February 16, 2007

Iceberg

From a yellowing printout I found in one of my books just now:

I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eights of it under water for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesn't show.

-- Ernest Hemingway, 1958

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

explain..

Bishwanath Ghosh said...

I thought it was self-explanatory, nevertheless...

The leaner the prose, the more powerful the story. A story is not about what is said, but what is left unsaid -- the hallmark of most Hemingway stories.

Nandhu said...

for once, a post that is short on this blog. usually they are all so long. and good one, bishwanath

The Ugly One said...

i have been reading you from the time i read craft is more important than content sometime back. i have always wanted to tell you that content is crucial. the last post proves it. there are not many IAS officers, i suppose.

dharmabum said...

'if u feel something, u must'nt really say it and tarnish the feeling'

i completely agree with ur intention, bg. and there is absoluetly no one who cud say it better or with more authority than hemingway. having said that, i must admit that i often fail to do so myself, and thus tend to be a lil verbose!

about the meeting - thank you so much for the offer! it will indeed be something to look forward to. i wil mail u, and soon - am travelling around a bit over the next couple of weeks on work. but beware, mail i will!

Mystic Rose said...

wow...what a powerful 'three sentences'!!

Mystic Rose said...

wow...what a powerful 'three sentences'!!

dharmabum said...

not that i have too many blogger friends myself, but my humble post mentions BG :)
so u can be sure of a click or two more now ;o)

Anonymous said...

ghost babu?? where r u?

dharmabum said...

yo bg, what happened to all the writing? we're waiting...:(