ontheedgeofeverything

I haven’t exactly kept my love for Kristin Hannah as an author as of late. The first book I ever read by her was The Nightingale, which will arguably remain one of the most powerful texts I have ever laid eyes on for the remainder of my life. That might sound dramatic to some, but it is the truth.

I then read The Great Alone, and now I am reading The Women. Kristin Hannah is an exceptional writer, and plenty of people support this claim. But, I have been seeing a tremendous amount of criticism towards her writing anytime I research her book, and it is genuinely pissing me off.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Honours English Language and Literature. I do not mean for this to sound arrogant, because I despise arrogance at its core, but my education allows me to recognize good writing and shit writing, and I have an eye for writing quality. It is something I pay attention to while reading any book, and for the millions of people on the internet who seem to be unaware, allow me to inform you that there are countless books that have been published that should never have seen the light of day.

I am beyond tired of people applauding poor writing when exceptional writers and their work are overlooked. As I said, Kristin Hannah has a gift for writing, and most people feel the same way. But, the amount of criticism I have seen of her writing regarding simplicity and a relatively standard vocabulary is fucking ludicrous, and it’s infuriating that I have to explain this in the first place.

Good writing doesn’t require a reader to pull out a dictionary anytime they come across some ridiculous vocabulary term. A writer’s quality is not necessarily determined by the words they use, but rather by how they use these words to tell a story. Kristin Hannah’s storytelling ability is like nothing I have come across before, and her success is a testament to this.

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash