Helpful Score: 2
Have you ever wondered what a place would be like where you were outside of time and space, neither dead nor alive? Where you could observe the mechanisms of the universe and see the death of our planet and sun? Where you could commune with souls of the dead in the black, silent sea of sleep?
Well, it is full of adverbs. It is an infinitude of adverbs.
Do you like adverbs? William Hope Hodgson did. Do you like to start sentences with a sudden adverb and a comma? William Hope Hodgson liked that, too.
I wrote a small app to chew up the Gutenberg version of this book and count the adverbs (just the -ly adverbs), and count how often he dangled them*. Here are some of William's favorites - the first number is the frequency he used them in this 27 chapter book, the second number is my rough count of how often he dangled them:
slowly - 66, 37
suddenly - 60, 45
presently - 49, 47
gradually - 40, 36
quickly - 39, 19
scarcely - 22, 0
steadily - 20, 10
evidently - 16, 11
curiously - 15, 4
quietly - 14, 9
rapidly - 14, 3
strangely - 14, 2
nearly - 13, 0
cautiously - 13, 9
intently - 13, 6
swiftly - 13, 3
silently - 12, 9
probably - 12, 6
finally - 12, 10
immediately - 11, 6
apparently - 11, 3
dimly - 10, 6
utterly - 10, 0
really - 10, 0
He used many more adverbs than these, of course. He used only 78 times, which should be in first place, but only doesn't slow down the writing much, and doesn't draw attention to itself the way other -ly adverbs do. So I didn't count it. One of my favorites was multitudinously, although he only used it once (not to introduce a sentence, since I know you were wondering).
His total counts for modifying verbs, instead of choosing a different verb that may not have required modification:
***drum roll***
1277! In a book of 27 chapters! That's 47 per chapter!
And he dangled 524 of them! An impressive 19 per chapter!
If I ever get swept away from this plane before I slough off my mortal coil, and am tranported to a dark place outside time and space, where I can observe the mechanisms of the universe, neither alive nor dead, and can commune with the souls of the dead in the silent sea of sleep, and I see William Hope Hodgson wading in the black, undampening waters there, I'm going to presently, carefully, slowly, gradually-- or perhaps quickly and suddenly-- but really, literally, soundly, thoroughly-- beat him with adverbs. Multitudinously.
*The 'dangling' count was the count of adverbs immediately followed by a comma, colon, semicolon, or question mark. That may have over-counted, but I let him slide on being followed by hyphens, which he did at times. So that helps him a bit. Trust me when I tell you he began many sentences, Adverbly, ...
Well, it is full of adverbs. It is an infinitude of adverbs.
Do you like adverbs? William Hope Hodgson did. Do you like to start sentences with a sudden adverb and a comma? William Hope Hodgson liked that, too.
I wrote a small app to chew up the Gutenberg version of this book and count the adverbs (just the -ly adverbs), and count how often he dangled them*. Here are some of William's favorites - the first number is the frequency he used them in this 27 chapter book, the second number is my rough count of how often he dangled them:
slowly - 66, 37
suddenly - 60, 45
presently - 49, 47
gradually - 40, 36
quickly - 39, 19
scarcely - 22, 0
steadily - 20, 10
evidently - 16, 11
curiously - 15, 4
quietly - 14, 9
rapidly - 14, 3
strangely - 14, 2
nearly - 13, 0
cautiously - 13, 9
intently - 13, 6
swiftly - 13, 3
silently - 12, 9
probably - 12, 6
finally - 12, 10
immediately - 11, 6
apparently - 11, 3
dimly - 10, 6
utterly - 10, 0
really - 10, 0
He used many more adverbs than these, of course. He used only 78 times, which should be in first place, but only doesn't slow down the writing much, and doesn't draw attention to itself the way other -ly adverbs do. So I didn't count it. One of my favorites was multitudinously, although he only used it once (not to introduce a sentence, since I know you were wondering).
His total counts for modifying verbs, instead of choosing a different verb that may not have required modification:
***drum roll***
1277! In a book of 27 chapters! That's 47 per chapter!
And he dangled 524 of them! An impressive 19 per chapter!
If I ever get swept away from this plane before I slough off my mortal coil, and am tranported to a dark place outside time and space, where I can observe the mechanisms of the universe, neither alive nor dead, and can commune with the souls of the dead in the silent sea of sleep, and I see William Hope Hodgson wading in the black, undampening waters there, I'm going to presently, carefully, slowly, gradually-- or perhaps quickly and suddenly-- but really, literally, soundly, thoroughly-- beat him with adverbs. Multitudinously.
*The 'dangling' count was the count of adverbs immediately followed by a comma, colon, semicolon, or question mark. That may have over-counted, but I let him slide on being followed by hyphens, which he did at times. So that helps him a bit. Trust me when I tell you he began many sentences, Adverbly, ...
