Posted by Bill Herrington on January 13, 1999 at 20:28:25:
In Reply to: Re: Beer and Sausages posted by Mike Berro on January 13, 1999 at 16:32:31:
: : Beer and Sausages: in how many of Vance's books do the characters not settle down and enjoy this fine meal?
: Both beer and sausages are pretty generic and ubiquitous. I think it's one of Vance's gifts; to be able to choose non-connotative words for most everything ("viewscreen", "conveyance", "space ship"). After all, who cares what's in the sausage, or what makes the space ship go?
Interesting.
I think of Vance's vocab as mining the fineries of connotation. Yet, your examples illustrate otherwise. I'm planning a rereading of Vance (as I'm sure many of us do). "The Narrow Land" was, for a long time, top five Vance for me. Who knows what the future holds?