I’m fascinated with the way people use words, authors particularly. Graham Salisbury uses words to create vivid images so that I can see the events play like a movie in my mind. “The tension outside the Japanese camp in Honolulu was so tight you could almost hear it snapping in the air. Pop mumbled, ‘Bad, bad times’ and mashed his lips together” (p. 1). The use of onomatopoeia lets me hear the character’s struggle.
Salsbury is also a master of the simile. Here’s a description his dog: “That ratty dog stuck to me like glue.” And can’t you just picture Pop? “He was forty-eight years old and starting to get a bouncy stomach. His undershirt was white and clean, tucked into his khaki
pants that hung on him like drying laundry, bunched at his waist with a piece of rope” (p. 3). Figurative language appeals to the sense of sight, helping the reader visualize events and people.
I also enjoyed this metaphor – a highly creative comparison – that uses the techniques of personification: “The sun was just climbing into a pink morning sky. Out to sea, the ocean breathed slow and soft, a body sleeping under silk” (p. 17).
This author sure makes it easy for a reader to see what he’s saying.
