13 Ways of Looking at the Novel

As a writer and potential novelist, (I can dream, can't I?) I found Jane Smiley's book both enlightening and terrifying, probably in equal measures.

Throughout the 570 pages, which includes synopses of each of the 100 novels she read, she applies a dazzlingly wide range of approaches.

Beginning with the questions ‘What is a Novel?' and ‘Who is a Novelist?' she goes on to discuss the origins of the novel, alongside psychology, morality, art and history in relation to this medium.

Her analysis of the novel as a circle, or rather a ‘clockface' of genre and styles, offers an refreshingly logical approach to literature and writing, which I believe would be particularly valuable to those who may feel daunted by traditional methods of literary criticism.

The two ‘Novel of Your Own' sections follow the well-worn path of writing theory, but with the added attraction of the case study of Smiley's own book Good Faith, which allows and indeed invites the application of the theory to practice.

Even if literary criticism is not usually your thing, this book is well worth a read, simply for the intensive ‘revision guide' approach to some of the most famous and well-read classics in history. It will, no doubt, inspire you to take a look at texts you may have not have previously explored, or offer a fresh view on some you may have felt inaccessible.

Do not be put off by the subtitle: "What to read and how to write"; this is no Trinny and Susannah guide to literature. I fully expect to see it on the reading lists of many literature based degree and masters courses for years to come.

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Wed, 01/02/2006 - 08:00 — Anonymous