"When Writers Speak" by Arthur Krystal

Arthur Krystal reveals his theory that great writers may not be great speakers. Likewise he describes how great speakers are not great writers.

            Most people would think that he has a lot of nerve to bring down brilliant writers. But as a matter in fact, he is a writer himself and he has encountered several people in his life who are amazing writers who have difficulty carrying out a simple conversation without sounding awkward or even less brilliant than they sound in their books.

            Krystal begins talking about Vladimir Nabokov. He discusses Nabokov’s interview that had taken place in 1950s and that Nabokov had an unidentifiable accent. This is out of context because one may argue that Nabokov is struggling to speak because he is not a native English speaker. Krystal reveals how Nabokov was reading off of notecards. This rebuts the argument of Nabokov not being a strong speaker because English is not his first language.

            Krystal’s purpose of writing this essay was to convince readers to not be disappointed when they see their favorite author not speaking as clearly as they seem to do in their books.

            This essay was written to those “bookworms” who follow all their favorite authors on twitter. Krystal wanted to retell his shocking experiences of seeing famous writers speak and the disappointment he felt.

            Krystal uses similes in this essay such as, “…people capable of telling great stories waddle like ducks out of water when they attempt to write” (89). This explains how different speakers are in front of pen and paper. “waddle like ducks” shows how brilliant speakers would sound ridiculous on paper.

            Arthur Krystal accomplished his purpose by stating his theories about writers and speakers but he also gave examples of personal encounters he had with other people to prove his theory. He once mistaken a lunatic for Monsieur Honoré de Balzac because of the way he spoke, “‘I like your lunatic,’ he whispered, indicating the talkative man. The host frowned. ‘But it’s the other one who’s the lunatic. The man you’re pointing to is Monsieur Honoré de Balzac’” (90).

Speakers vs Writers- Even though both parties may sound brilliant, it depends how they express it. (luthfispace.blogspot.com)