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Tell-tale lines
Sep. 18th, 2014 08:41 amIn the book I'm reading at the moment, a character has recently appeared, whose "face was deeply scored with the tell-tale lines of debauchery and self-indulgence." What are the tell-tale lines of debauchery and self-indulgence? I've just spent a rather strange few minutes desperately trying to look self-indulgent in front of a mirror, to see if lines are likely to be etched in my face if I do it repeatedly, and have yet to notice any particularly unique and unambiguous lines. A few pages on, it was remarked upon that somebody else's face bore lines that spoke of the year of angst and hardship they had experienced a few hundred pages earlier. However, lines etched by self-indulgence are clearly completely different from Lines of Angst.
What about lines of short-sightedness? I've got vertical grooves between my eyes that come from having one short-sighted eye and one slightly long-sighted one. Between the two of them, my eyes focus okay, but only if I ever so slightly frown with my short-sighted eye. But I don't think fiction tends to notice such things. In books, facial lines come from past experience or from general disposition, and can even tell you at a glance if their wearer is a goodie or a baddie.
But at least they're not as expressive as eyes. Eyes in fiction are so much more expressive than our boring, workaday real-life eyes. In fiction, eyes can convey an amazingly in-depth account of their owner's emotional state, doing to every last nuance, and the person who sees the said eyes always perfectly understands what they can see. I keep wishing for an exchange along these lines:
"Her eyes were brimming with her love for him, but there was a shadow in them, too, caused by her concern about her father's disapproval, but - ah, sweet hope! - a glint of defiance that showed that she was planning to defy him and risk all for her love."
He went down on one knee and took her hand. "Oh, my love! I can see in your lovely azure eyes that..."
"Oh! What?" She shook her head sharply. "I'm sorry. What did you say? I was trying to decide whether to have meatballs for dinner, or if pork chops would be better."
What about lines of short-sightedness? I've got vertical grooves between my eyes that come from having one short-sighted eye and one slightly long-sighted one. Between the two of them, my eyes focus okay, but only if I ever so slightly frown with my short-sighted eye. But I don't think fiction tends to notice such things. In books, facial lines come from past experience or from general disposition, and can even tell you at a glance if their wearer is a goodie or a baddie.
But at least they're not as expressive as eyes. Eyes in fiction are so much more expressive than our boring, workaday real-life eyes. In fiction, eyes can convey an amazingly in-depth account of their owner's emotional state, doing to every last nuance, and the person who sees the said eyes always perfectly understands what they can see. I keep wishing for an exchange along these lines:
"Her eyes were brimming with her love for him, but there was a shadow in them, too, caused by her concern about her father's disapproval, but - ah, sweet hope! - a glint of defiance that showed that she was planning to defy him and risk all for her love."
He went down on one knee and took her hand. "Oh, my love! I can see in your lovely azure eyes that..."
"Oh! What?" She shook her head sharply. "I'm sorry. What did you say? I was trying to decide whether to have meatballs for dinner, or if pork chops would be better."
