Have I discussed the Jane Chord before? Four-and-a-half years of blogging have become hazy. Perhaps a review is in order, especially if none of the old posts from Blog City will be joining the WordPress party.
The Jane Chord is the two word phrase created by combining the first and last non-article words in a book. The phenomenon, first observed by an editor’s wife aptly named Jane, provides an efficient summary of the text and offers a deeper look into the author’s soul than the 100,000 other words sandwiched between the front and back. Sadly, greater detail on this Jane person isn’t available. Given the multiple people who have brought the concept up, though, I assert it to be the de facto standard for literary analysis.
Ulysses‘ Jane Chord, which was the first Jane Chord taught to me, is stately yes. Stately? Yes! There are more listed here, even though the author focuses on science fiction books, which more often than not don’t deserve the effort associated with opening the book in two different spots.