Hi,

A complaint was registered that I brought up the question out of place in the grammar forum when I tried to justify why Amitav Ghosh, the author of The Glass Palace, used but of asymmetrically without the support of ‘not … of’ . Post: 447060

However, my justification did not get a reply from anyone; and I still am wondering if my ‘out of place’ discussion was the reason, or the justification has no merit.  Could anybody care to share an opinion? Here is the sentence in question with my unvarnished words added in parentheses:

"The crenellated ramparts were almost three storeys high (,built not with an idea of immensity), but of a soaring lightness, red in colour, and topped by ornamented gateways with seven-tiered roofs,”

"The crenellated ramparts were almost three storeys high but of a soaring lightness, red in colour, and topped by ornamented gateways with seven-tiered roofs,”

I just looked at your sentence as quoted here, and not at the link and the previous discussion. I assume the version in italics is what Ghosh wrote. It seems fine to me. 

It's rather literary in style, of course.

Clive 

I understand you well and thank you for walking me through your explanation step-by-step.

Is the construct something is of something / someone / an idea idiomatic? Without but for contrasting effect, ‘The crenellated ramparts were of soaring lightness’ sounds a bit unpleasant to my ear – perhaps, I haven’t seen its use enough.

Before I posted my original question to the grammar forum, I searched for but of on the Internet and found its lone use is rather rare except when it is accompanied by not … of. “Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments” and “Climate change just not concern of scientists, but of all” are among many symmetrical usages that I found. Such rarity forced me to conclude that soaring lightness should not be attributed to the ramparts, but to some hidden idea. The result was the parenthetical insert that I concocted with my imagination to justify the unnecessary parallelism that you pointed out.

For a moment, I was happy thinking how wonderful it was to see one play hide and seek with the language. Oh Well! Sometimes allowing one’s imagination run wild is fun too.

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai