Okay maybe this is a sign of latent masochistic tendencies but I couldn't leave this alone. I found the Tyrian purple prose guy on YouTube (Joseph V. Logsdon) and I'm. I'm just.
You can't make this shit up. He has a video called The Problem of the Midwit Reader, a type of reader that he claims only enjoys poetic or ornamental prose if it "stays within a realm they can comprehend and understand". I'm four minutes in and he has repeated maybe three times that if a Midwit Reader finds prose above their comprehension they become "resentful" and "anti-intellectual".
All of this is buildup to him addressing a review of one of his books criticising the prose. Prose which, if you don't wanna click that link, is all written to the tune of "Memories never truly die; they simply sail on the lusters of our tears. They are like sonorous susurrations in the mesmeric gales of eternity, through which all sentient ecstasies evanesce into penumbral welkins."
An excerpt from the review in question, by the way:
First off, I can appreciate what Joseph is trying to do with this novel. From what I understand it is a love letter to the likes of Wuthering Heights, Charles Dickens and other classic works [...]
While many of these classics have flourishes of more "flowery" and archaic/poetic language, the core of the prose and dialogue is still fairly conversational, at least for the time(s) they were written in.
The Brontes, Dostoevsky, Mary Shelley, and even Dickens to some degree wrote with a certain clarity and restraint, albeit in a style of English that is naturally elevated. Whereas Joseph's style comes across as artificially elevated [...] which grinds the momentum of the novel to a halt. Underneath this excessively ornate prose is a setting and cast of characters that would make this story a worthy successor to the genre.
[emphasis mine]
It is a very well-balanced and clear-sighted review, in my opinion. The reviewer has the grace and insight to see what Logsdon was trying to do, and clearly explains why it didn't work while acknowledging its potential. But does Logsdon take it that way? Of course not. He fixates on the part where the reviewer says they liked Chapter 4, responding with: of course they did, it's the chapter where I "dumbed down" the language! And then he adds that the viewpoint character of that chapter has a "more schizophrenic" voice. That is, the viewpoint character for whom he deliberately "dumbs down" his language sounds "schizophrenic".
So..... he's refuting a critique by insulting the intelligence and intellectual capabilities of his readership, is what this boils down to. And he's doing this while also also saying:
But when someone did *checks notes* critique his writing philosophy, something he explicitly says he welcomes, he made a whole video about stupid readers who simply don't know how to enjoy elevated prose without becoming resentful [of his genius? 🤔] and turning against the intellectual establishment [that his work represents? 🤔🤔]. or something.
Anyway. I'll leave you all with a screenshot that speaks a thousand words
