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For Ramona Fans

Cleary's reading tastes:

“Novels by British writers are among my favorites because our family has enjoyed travel in England and because they are written with an economy of words, as if they were written with a pen instead of a computer. Penelope Fitzgerald is a favorite.”

 I don't know Penelope Fitzgerald all that well, but I suspect that Cleary herself thinks about "economy" when she works. Understatement can be powerful. (Sondheim says, "Less is more.")

Cleary's use of economy is really striking to me at the end of "Henry Huggins." Henry has just won Ribsy in a kind of devotion-tug-of-war. So: Henry is overwhelmed with feeling. And Cleary could--if she'd like--go on and on about the sensations of pride and love and excitement that Henry might be experiencing. But she knows "less is more." So: "Henry found that he was speechless."

And Cleary moves on.

I love that!
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