The Ebb-Tide: Opening Paragraphs

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From 1894, THE EBB-TIDE, by Robert Louis Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne, opens with a passage worth analysis.

The writing is firm and graceful; it relies on subtle repetitions of consonants and vowels ("carry activity and disseminate disease"; "memoirs of the music-hall"), and on parallel structures ("less pliable, less capable, less fortunate, and perhaps less base"). Physical details might be scarce ("palm-leaf verandahs"; "a single eye-glass"), and verbs could be stronger ("vegetate" and "sprawl" stand out), but from one clause to the next, the writing moves quickly. Notice, too, that the longer, more elaborately constructed sentences appear at the end of the paragraph, built on a solid foundation of shorter statements ("Some prosper, some vegetate.").

I wish more of the books I try to read could start like this, with writing for voice and ears.