Details, Details, Details

What separates mediocre from good or great writing? Details. In the book,  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the style is dated, but the details held me in the story. Betty Smith took the time to incorporate significant details related to the 1910-1915’s: money tied in the corner of handkerchiefs, carrying tin to be sold for precious pennies and reading the family Bible as a way to learn to read.

In a more recent read of a current author, I felt let down. She told us what she saw instead of drawing us in with sensory details. True, her drama moved the story along, but it lacked connections that will sustain the book in my memory and, it didn’t inspire me to write her ‘turns of phrase’ in my book of memorable quotes .

Which one is the better book? I choose the story with details; they are etched in my mind for all time.