
Ode to Gray - howrude
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/08/21/ode-to-gray/
======
slazaro
The sentence structure for this is also gray. Sentences are all of similar
length with little variation. After a few paragraphs you start to feel the
monotony. There is no shorter or longer sentence to break the tension. I don't
know if this was intentional or not. But I think it fits the tone of the
article well. I'm writing in that way right now and it's rather uncomfortable.

Edit: Made me think of this: [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/373814-this-
sentence-has-fi...](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/373814-this-sentence-has-
five-words-here-are-five-more-words)

~~~
girvo
What’s curious is I both love grey and really enjoyed the sentence structure
and writing style.

~~~
weinzierl
Me too, I never understood why people are bothered about varying sentence
length.

Same with synonyms. I prefer when authors find the perfect word and then stick
with it. The resulting word repetitions are something I only notice when
someone points them out to me, even if they drive other people out of their
minds.

~~~
mc32
Yep, other languages (Chinese for example) don't see it as odd if you have to
use the same word repeatedly --people don't feel pressure to use synonyms to
say the same thing or elaborate on a given topic. Wish more writers of English
felt the same way.

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bitwize
Gray makes me think of an old friend of mine, who wasn't human, but a cat, and
though she was almost completely gray from nose to tail (except for a few
distinctive white spots on her chest, belly, and rear paws), she was anything
but dull. She was a beauty, as any who saw her would attest. Her fur shimmered
in the sunlight, often revealing tabby patterns you couldn't normally see. And
her large, alert yellow eyes would form a striking contrast with the gray of
her face and body. She thought herself a queen, and expected to be treated as
such, rewarding only her most loyal subjects with purring and _limited_
petting time. In so doing she made gray a regal color indeed.

I still miss her every day.

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tempodox
Gray is the perfect color for neutral backgrounds. It doesn't distract and it
produces no color bias.

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harryh
I really enjoyed this essay on lilac from The Paris Review from earlier in the
year.

[https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/09/lilac-the-
col...](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/09/lilac-the-color-of-
half-mourning-doomed-hotels-and-fashionable-feelings/)

Not sure when TPR was appointed to be in charge of the color beat.

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mchahn
This make me think of watching "She's Gotta Have It" by Spike Lee. When
watching the black and white movie I was blown away by the image depth. It a
bright sunlit scene you could see shadows and details in the shade under a
tree.

For some reason black and white film always had more dynamic range than color.
I don't know why.

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criddell
Any idea why the author alternately used _gray_ and _grey_? Did I miss
something in the text?

~~~
Jackim
"Grey" is the British/Canadian spelling, the author appears to be American.
The only times "grey" showed up in the article were in direct quotes,
presumably from British English writers.

~~~
pc86
I'm an American and honestly I flip back and forth, which is probably
frustrating to read.

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adwi
“Middle grey” [0] (one that reflects ~ 18% of light bouncing off of it) has an
interesting role in photography.

[0]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_gray](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_gray)

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janekm
Very relaxing read. But did anyone figure out what "Liard, lovat, perse."
means?

~~~
hypertexthero
From [Websters](1) dictionary:

Liard \Li"ard\ (l[imac]"[~e]rd), a. [OF. liart, LL. liardus gray, dapple.]
Gray. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Note: Used by Chaucer as an epithet of a gray or dapple gray horse. Also used
as a name for such a horse.

1: [http://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary](http://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary)

* * *

lovat | ˈləvət | noun a muted green color used especially in tweed and woolen
garments.

* * *

Perse (mythology) In Greek mythology, Perse (Greek: Πέρση; also spelled Persa
or Perseis) is an Oceanid nymph, one of the three thousand daughters of the
Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and the wife of the sun god, Helios. Their children
are Aeetes, Perses, Pasiphae, and Circe. One of her many Oceanid sisters is
Amphitrite (the wife of Poseidon). Perse is also closely identified with
Hecate.

* * *

To me it reads as ”Life, love, loss.”

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ahartmetz
Gray makes other colors pop. I like it for that.

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dbelchamber
I love gray too!

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EngineerBetter
If it's not a poem, it's not an ode.

