In the unfinished book America, we get a lavish description of Karl's writing desk, a large machine as complex as the penal torture apparatus: it has a "regulator" dial that sets its parts in motion, making some panels rise and others sink, reminding Karl of the mechanical Christmas displays he watched as a child.
Powell, again, provides a lavish description, but the sharpest account of the proceedings was filed by Philip Larkin, who reported to his friend Kingsley Amis that "the worst part was after dinner when old Thomas initiated a 'conversation', and everyone talked about fawn [foreign] countries and fawn politics, just like the College Essay Society".
Movies, books and tv shows dramatize this experience and through the rose-tinted glasses, we are unable to see past the actors' fake smiles and lavish description of what would otherwise be best described as "some dude's basement".
And it's undermined by the lavish descriptions of parties and couture clothes.
No, the main thing is the food, lavish descriptions of which makes the Blueprint cleansers, gluten-free Goopies and Fit Bit twits of today seem like total neurotic ingrates.
Herodotus' lavish descriptions of the statistic-boggling preparations — he numbers Xerxes' fighting force at 2,317,610 men, a figure that includes infantry, marines, and camel-riders — are among the most memorable passages of his, or any, history.
Blending tales of his solo wanderings with lavish descriptions of feasting and feuding, Barkan flirts with art appreciation (one Madonna disappoints him with "a gesture that might signify the embrace of sinners or the conclusion to a torch song") and political commentary (Communism back then was, he concludes, "still a great social club").
And then I forget what happens because most of the plot was lost in pointless love scenes, villainous monologues and lavish descriptions of Jace, which also let us know what Clare's feelings are regarding the colour gold, in case we didn't already guess this from his GOLDEN eyes or his GOLDEN hair or his GOLDEN skin or other GOLDEN assets he may or may not exhibit!
His lavish, genteel description of the laudanum user as proto-flaneur had a great seductiveness, something for which he was criticized when the book was published, in 1821.
In her new book, Ms. Beaulieu not only airs her dirty laundry, she gives lavish literary descriptions of perfumes.
Tasmania screams out for lavish, Technicolor physical description.
