READER’S DIGEST
June• 2018 || 47are not complex – by deinition, pop-
ular means they appeal to the masses.
For what it’s worth, plenty of success-
ful ‘literary’ writers have embraced the
beauty of ‘easy’ writing. As one best-
selling writer put it, “One day I will
ind the right words, and they will be
simple.” His name: Jack Kerouac. By
the way, Kerouac’s most popular
book,On the Road, scores a reading
level of 6.6.reading level of 7.2. While many clas-
sics have high scores (he Age of Inno-
cence at 10.4, Oliver Twist at 10.1, he
Satanic Verses at 10.1), just as many
have surprisingly low scores: To Kill a
Mocking bird at 5.9, he Sun Also Rises
at 4.2 and he Grapes of Wrath at 4.1.
hese books are revered, but they are
also accessible enough to be taught in
high school.
It’s logical that our bestselling books
the desert, and the
gunslinger followed.”
SOPHIE KINSELLA
Through her conversa-
tional writing, she
creates wonderfully
sympathetic narrators:
average young English
women who are full
of quirks and always
funny.
CONFESSIONS OF A
SHOPAHOLIC:
“OK. Don’t panic.
Don’t panic. It’s only
a Visa bill. It’s a piece
of paper; a few
numbers. I mean, just
how scary can a few
numbers be?”
ELMORE LEONARD
His prose is lean and
easy, even when the
action is hard and fast.
His mysteries and
Westerns pick you up
and carry you along
and never sound like
writing.
OUT OF SIGHT: “Foley
had never seen a
prison where you
could walk right up
to the fence without
getting shot.”WALTER MOSLEY
Deliberately bringing
black male heroes
into the mainstream,
Mosley’s Easy Rawlins
detective stories revive
the classic Raymond
Chandler and Dashiell
Hammett style.
A LITTLE YELLOW DOG:
“When I got to work
that Monday morning,
I knew something
was wrong.”J.K. ROWLING
Yes, the Harry Potter
books are ostensibly
for children, but many
adults read them for
their sheer joy.
HARRY POTTER AND THE
SORCERER’S STONE:
“Mr and Mrs Dursley,
of number four, Privet
Drive, were proud to
say that they were
perfectly normal, thank
you very much.”NICHOLAS SPARKS
This penner of
tearjerkers writes
in the affectless voice
of the heartland,
creating authentic
characters every time.
THE NOTEBOOK:
“Who am I? And how,
I wonder, will this
story end?”EXCERPTED FROM NABOKOV’S FAVORITE WORD IS MAUVE BY BEN BLATT, © 2017 BENJAMIN BLATT.
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION BY SIMON & SCHUSTER, SIMONANDSCHUSTER.COM