Dear Thoughtful,
Here we are again, meeting over a cup of coffee and a phrase. It's a pleasure to have someone to talk to about myriad meaning.
"The novel was bad; I never finished it; but the writing thickens the dust." - Vera Caspary, from Laura.
The sentence for me is puzzling, but in the most gratifying way. I think, because the writing of the novel was not finished, that the thickening of dust could refer to time going by. It might also be that the time/dust obscures the meaning of the writing. It might be that the writing does the obscuring. It might be that the act of writing passes/passed the time. It might be that the writing's dustiness makes it hard to recollect the reality or facts? Also, it borders on nonsense, on absurdity. Those are the ways I have counted to love that sentence.
"...The writing thickens the dust." It sure does!
PS Let's have another version of yesterday's song of the day, today.
