How can some authors, like Hemingway, relate a tragedy in a way that impacts me to the core...whereas writings far more elaborate have failed?
Perhaps it's this:
He doesn’t make things more than they are.
Events and perceptions, conveyed thoughtfully and descriptively yet not overstated, don’t beg me to doubt their authenticity. Whether truth or fiction, this author matter-of-factly relates the scene; not glamourised, not expounded upon, not poetically embellished. He doesn’t tell me what to feel; he tells me what happens, and lets me feel it for myself. This makes it not a third-hand experience, but one's own.