Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

"The novel is written in a rhythmical style."

Is it OK to change it to
"The novel is written in a style with a good tempo."

Thank you in advance!
Junkomama

[redset]

Well tempo means speed, rhythm is a consistent repeating pattern. They're connected, but you can the same rhythm at different tempos. If you say that a novel is written 'with a good tempo' it sounds like you're talking about the pacing of the narrative, that it stays interesting and that the story progresses without it ever feeling too slow, with long sections where nothing happens. If it's 'written in a rhythmical style' then it could mean the story has a feeling of rhythm, maybe with a long section of dialogue followed by a short burst of excitement, then another long dialogue followed by another short exciting bit, over and over. It could also mean that the actually writing is rhythmical, like poetry, using patterns of long and short syllables to create a sound with a repeating pattern.

Personally, in this case I think rhythmical and tempo have meanings that are different enough to lose the sense the writer was trying to convey. If it had said 'with a good rhythm' then tempo would have worked quite well, but because it says 'rhythmical' it sounds as though the author is making a point that it's imbued with a particular rhythm, and you lose that a little by just saying 'tempo'.

I hope that didn't sound too critical, this is fairly advanced stuff - you're definitely on the right track, I just wanted to point out the subtle differences. If you don't mind that, then what you wrote is fine!

[Junkomama]

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation, redset-san!
It's a little difficult , but I think I understand.

Regards,
Junkomama

[redset]

Let me put it another way, and see if it makes more sense. Tempo and rhythm are both connected to music, tempo is the 'speed' and rhythm is the 'feel'. If the writing 'has a good tempo' then the novel progresses at a good speed, fast enough to keep things interesting (and hopefully not too fast either!). If something's rhythmical then it has a particular rhythm, which might be fast or slow, or might even change speeds - have you ever heard music and started to move with it, or tap your feet, just from feeling the repeating patterns in the sound? That's the rhythm you're feeling, and you'll notice other repeating sounds seeming to be rhythmical too.

If someone says a novel is written in a 'rhythmical style' they're saying it has some property of a rhythm, a pattern you can feel repeating constantly, like a heartbeat. It could be that the events in the story seem to occur in a pattern (like action - dialogue - action - dialogue), or the actual words could sound rhythmical when they're read out (I'm no expert on this but haiku have a certain rhythm when they're read, right?). It's hard to know what the author meant exactly, but tempo doesn't really carry the same meaning as rhythm - you can talk about the tempo of a rhythm, but it has other qualities too!

Does that help at all? If I ever do say something that's too complicated then please let me know, it helps me to learn to communicate too

[Junkomama]

Thank you so much for your in-depth comment!!
That really helps a lot!
Especially, the parts in which you cite music and haiku as an example help me to understand what you mean.

Regards,
Junkomama