Let me share a couple of sentences from an old-fashioned, brand new novel I have just finished reading, The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart. These words speak to all technical writers, web designers and other professionals. They speak to me. Possibly they even speak about me.
As he did so, Guillaume Ladoucette slowly opened the narrow drawer above his stomach and took out his rubber and stapler. Silently, he placed them on top of the desk in the hope of seducing his customer with his arsenal of professionalism.
The narrow drawer above Guillaume Ladoucette's stomach reappears a couple of times with its contents (the drawer contents, not the stomach contents). So do a number of little refrains that make the book echo like a villanelle.
For example, this conversation occurs between almost every combination of villagers. Perigord may be so ugly that not even the English will live there, but at least everyone has a walnut tree:
'Walnut?'
'No thanks,' replied Stephane Jollis who had his own to get rid of.This is just the ticket when you are looking for something giggly and feather-light to read.
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart. Doubleday.
P.S. In case you wondered, this is a British book, so rubber means eraser.
1 comment
Jun 25, 2007 • Posted by Susan Wylie
Well, I have enough space above my stomach for a wee drawer but I’d also like to keep a notebook and pen there, a handkerchief, credit card and perhaps something to read. It would save carrying a handbag. And if the drawer was large enough to hold a cellphone, every teenager would want one.
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