Booking Through Thursday: Sensual

Today's Booking Through Thursday question:

Which do you prefer? Lurid, fruity prose, awash in imagery and sensuous textures and colors? Or straight-forward, clean, simple prose?

I think my preference here depends on the kind of book I'm reading. Oddly, in romances, I often prefer more straight-forward language. I think its that the plots are mostly about things that can very easily be written as syrupy sweet, so I prefer to keep the language simple. I mean, I want there to be some imagery, but lets not overload with too many details.

Sex scenes should be sensuous, yes. They should have imagery, yes. But its also true that less can be more where a sex scene is concerned. The best authors can find a good balance balance there.

Even in non-romances, I think I like a good balance between the two options above. I'm reading Tolkien's The Two Towers right now, and just finished The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien is a master at imagery and using language to the best of his ability. However, for me, its sometimes a bit too much, and I have to skim. This isn't to say there's a problem with Tolkien's writing, just that its not always to my personal preference.

A short post today, as I'm off to the Big Easy for a long weekend. I'll blog some pictures when I'm back online Tuesday!