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James Soderholm's avatar

The "literally" choo-choo train LITERARILY made me think of sentence one of Joyce's "The Dead," where the author forever makes it impossible for intelligent people to use that word incorrectly ever again!

For some, trains are midwives of platitudes, alas. How lovely that Emma is a concert hall for all, the deft and the daft.

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Emma Silverthorn's avatar

'LILY, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet' - how lovely! Literally have not read that story for a long time, time for a re-read!

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James Soderholm's avatar

I think "The Dead" is the most perfect short story ever written. And the first sentence launches Joyce into the most ingenious use of Free Indirect Discourse (at once first-person and third-person) that carries him through the story allowing for both intimacy and aesthetic distance. Literally takes my breath away!

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Kevin Silverthorn's avatar

Literally literally literally literally literally brilliant :-)

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Emma Silverthorn's avatar

🤣🤣🤣 I heard this one just yesterday evening on the Eltham to Peckham service & it made me so happy!

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