Awkward Prose, Let Me Show You It

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“What makes a masterpiece? One answer is mastery. But that raises questions of its own. What is it? Where does it come from? And is it enough?”

I won’t lie: I totally cracked up typing up that quote. And come on, who wouldn’t? Doesn’t it sound like the opening to a particularly awkward high school essay? “Please write 500 words on what makes a masterpiece. You may include examples from music, literature, film and television. No video games please.”

It’s actually the opening to a piece in today’s The National discussing Beethoven’s fifth symphony. It’s the most juvenile prose I’ve seen in print in a long time, so thank you, Ed Lake, for bringing a smile to my face before the caffeine kicked in. But seriously, what were you thinking? And where was your editor, for that matter? The rest of the article is quite good, but that opening is inexcusable.