Some Thoughts on Generosity: Maybe It Is Not Quite So New

"If I were to write the chapters of my book in a continuous form, each time exhausting the chosen subject, they would certainly be more complete, more comprehensive, of a nobler character. But I fear lengthy texts, and you, reader, are worthy and capable of grasping the whole by means of a few random details, and knowing the end by learning the beginning"  - Jahiz, The Book of Animals

This is from a 9th century book and feels like something Powers could say now. Is this writing style not quite so new? This speaks to me, this sums up everything I imagine Generosity and Powers to be telling us. Not to eschew the ideas of the Library of Babel, of mental health, of the possibilities within us, or anything else we may get out of the novel. But this, I feel like this is what Powers is telling us all along. One of my classmates said she felt like Powers' odd style of writing was like him spoon-feeding her, there was no room for her own imagination in the story. But I think this story shows us how much we can do with just a "few random details", I feel that this style is a more creative approach than that found in a classic novel. Why not address the reader? Why not let us try to figure out what is going on? Why must we be given everything by the author? Let us see a few snippets and do with them what we will.