LonesomeEJ opined:

I have no doubt I could render the entire 330 page novel down to 42 pages, and possibly 35 if I got rid of all of the adjectives. I am also quite sure that, using my method, * * * The House of the Seven Gables could be finished on two or three commutes to one's workplace by simply reading at the stoplights.

Those who argue against brevity unconsciously argue for the end of reading and the novel in our culture.

LEJ, whoever argues for the kind of brevity you're talking about argues immediately that the end of the reading of the novel is already ended (or at least ending) in our culture.

Who would WANT to read The Mayor of Casterbridge in 42 pages? Only devotees of Classics Comics! Who would WANT to "read The House of Seven Gables on a flight from Chicago to Omaha, with time to peruse the in-flight magazine"? Only fans of Cliff's Notes as a high art form. Only those who don't really enjoy reading.

This is a fast-moving world, and the only effective way to allow literature to compete with film, music etc is to make it more conveniently consummable [sic].

To apply "brevity", your whole post comes down to: "To make literature compete with other media, abolish literature."

Dave Oesterreich