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Optimistic__Elephant t1_j1ezprn wrote

Reply to comment by boringbonding in What are some techniques used in books that you just love for some weird reason by shorttompkins

Les Mis is full of that. There’s chapters on the history of sewers if I remember correctly.

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tintinsays t1_j1ha7e0 wrote

There is. To be fair, this is because it was printed chapter by chapter so he got paid more the more he wrote. Still fascinating chapters!

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Hopefulcupcake3255 t1_j1heitt wrote

Or how detailed he got about rituals in nunnery. For my 12 yrs old brain growing up in Iran, I had my parallel world of living in 20th century but shared experience of nuns ...

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The__Imp t1_j1kjstp wrote

I’ve heard them called divergences of genius. There’s also one that is basically a 50 page blow by blow retelling of the principal actions in the battle of Waterloo that is only barely tangentially related to a story.

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