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The Art of Fiction
The articles with which David Lodge entertained and delighted readers of the Independent on Sunday and The Washington Post are now revised, expanded, and collected together in book form.
The art of fiction is considered under a wide range of headings, such as the Intrusive Author, Suspense, the Epistolary Novel, Time-shift, Magic Realism and Symbolism, and each topic is illustrated by a passage or two taken from classic or modern fiction. Drawing on writers as diverse as Henry James and Martin Amis, Jane Austen and Fay Weldon and Henry Fielding and James Joyce, David Lodge makes accesible to the general reader the richness and variety of British and American fiction. Technical terms, such as Interior Monologue, Metafiction, Intertextuality and the Unreliable Narrator, are lucidly explained and their applications demonstrated.
Bringing to criticism the verve and humour of his own novels, David Lodge has provided essential reading for students of literature, aspiring writers, and anyone who wishes to understand how literature works.
Beginning (Jane Austen, Ford Madox Ford) --
The intrusive author (George Eliot, E.M. Forster) --
Suspense (Thomas Hardy) --
Teenage Skaz (J.D. Salinger) --
The epistolary novel (Michael Frayn) --
Point of view (Henry James) --
Mystery (Rudyard Kipling) --
Names (David Lodge, Paul Auster) --
The stream of consciousness (Virginia Woolf) --
Interior monologue (James Joyce) --
Defamiliarization (Charlotte Bronte) --
The sense of place (Martin Amis) --
Lists (F. Scott Fitzgerald) --
Introducing a character (Christopher Isherwood) --
Surprise (William Makepeace Thackeray) --
Time-shift (Muriel Spark) --
The reader in the text (Laurence Sterne) --
Weather (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens) --
Repetition (Ernest Hemingway) --
Fancy prose (Vladimir Nabokov) --
Intertextuality (Joseph Conrad) --
The experimental novel (Henry Green) --
The comic novel (Kingsley Amis) --
Magic realism (Milan Kundera) --
Staying on the surface (Malcolm Bradbury) --
Showing and telling (Henry Fielding) --
Telling in different voices (Fay Weldon) --
A sense of the past (John Fowles). Imagining the future (George Orwell) --
Symbolism (D.H. Lawrence) --
Allegory (Samuel Butler) --
Epiphany (John Updike) --
Coincidence (Henry James) --
The unreliable narrator (Kazuo Ishiguro) --
The exotic (Graham Greene) --
Chapters etc. (Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne, Sil Walter Scott, George Eliot, James Joyce) --
The telephone (Evelyn Waugh) --
Surrealism (Leonora Carringotn) --
Irony (Arnold Bennett) --
Motivation (George Eliot) --
Duration (Donald Barthelme) --
Implication (William Cooper) --
The title (George Gissing) --
Ideas (Anthony Burgess) --
The non-fiction novel (Thomas Carlyle) --
Metafiction (John Barth) --
The uncanny (Edgar Allen Poe) --
Narrative structure (Leonard Michaels) --
Aporia (Samuel Beckett) --
Ending (Jane Austen, William Golding)
The art of fiction is considered under a wide range of headings, such as the Intrusive Author, Suspense, the Epistolary Novel, Time-shift, Magic Realism and Symbolism, and each topic is illustrated by a passage or two taken from classic or modern fiction. Drawing on writers as diverse as Henry James and Martin Amis, Jane Austen and Fay Weldon and Henry Fielding and James Joyce, David Lodge makes accesible to the general reader the richness and variety of British and American fiction. Technical terms, such as Interior Monologue, Metafiction, Intertextuality and the Unreliable Narrator, are lucidly explained and their applications demonstrated.
Bringing to criticism the verve and humour of his own novels, David Lodge has provided essential reading for students of literature, aspiring writers, and anyone who wishes to understand how literature works.
Beginning (Jane Austen, Ford Madox Ford) --
The intrusive author (George Eliot, E.M. Forster) --
Suspense (Thomas Hardy) --
Teenage Skaz (J.D. Salinger) --
The epistolary novel (Michael Frayn) --
Point of view (Henry James) --
Mystery (Rudyard Kipling) --
Names (David Lodge, Paul Auster) --
The stream of consciousness (Virginia Woolf) --
Interior monologue (James Joyce) --
Defamiliarization (Charlotte Bronte) --
The sense of place (Martin Amis) --
Lists (F. Scott Fitzgerald) --
Introducing a character (Christopher Isherwood) --
Surprise (William Makepeace Thackeray) --
Time-shift (Muriel Spark) --
The reader in the text (Laurence Sterne) --
Weather (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens) --
Repetition (Ernest Hemingway) --
Fancy prose (Vladimir Nabokov) --
Intertextuality (Joseph Conrad) --
The experimental novel (Henry Green) --
The comic novel (Kingsley Amis) --
Magic realism (Milan Kundera) --
Staying on the surface (Malcolm Bradbury) --
Showing and telling (Henry Fielding) --
Telling in different voices (Fay Weldon) --
A sense of the past (John Fowles). Imagining the future (George Orwell) --
Symbolism (D.H. Lawrence) --
Allegory (Samuel Butler) --
Epiphany (John Updike) --
Coincidence (Henry James) --
The unreliable narrator (Kazuo Ishiguro) --
The exotic (Graham Greene) --
Chapters etc. (Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne, Sil Walter Scott, George Eliot, James Joyce) --
The telephone (Evelyn Waugh) --
Surrealism (Leonora Carringotn) --
Irony (Arnold Bennett) --
Motivation (George Eliot) --
Duration (Donald Barthelme) --
Implication (William Cooper) --
The title (George Gissing) --
Ideas (Anthony Burgess) --
The non-fiction novel (Thomas Carlyle) --
Metafiction (John Barth) --
The uncanny (Edgar Allen Poe) --
Narrative structure (Leonard Michaels) --
Aporia (Samuel Beckett) --
Ending (Jane Austen, William Golding)
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
366 people are currently reading
4,553 people want to read
About the author
David Lodge
129听books906听followersDavid John Lodge was an English author and critic. A literature professor at the University of Birmingham until 1987, some of his novels satirise academic life, notably the "Campus Trilogy" 鈥� Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) and Nice Work (1988). The second two were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Another theme is Roman Catholicism, beginning from his first published novel The Picturegoers (1960). Lodge also wrote television screenplays and three stage plays. After retiring, he continued to publish literary criticism. His edition of Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (1972) includes essays on 20th-century writers such as T.S. Eliot. In 1992, he published The Art of Fiction, a collection of essays on literary techniques with illustrative examples from great authors, such as Point of View (Henry James), The Stream of Consciousness (Virginia Woolf) and Interior Monologue (James Joyce), beginning with Beginning and ending with Ending.
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September 20, 2020
The Art of Fiction: Illustrated from Classic and Modern Texts, David Lodge
The Art of Fiction is a book of literary criticism by the British novelist David Lodge.
The chapters of the book first appeared in 1991-1992 as weekly columns in The Independent on Sunday and were eventually gathered into book form and published in 1992.
The essays as they appear in the book have in many cases been expanded from their original format. Lodge focuses each chapter upon one aspect of the art of fiction, comprising some fifty topics.
Every chapter also begins with a passage from classic or modern literature that Lodge feels embodies the technique or topic at hand.
Some of the topics Lodge analyzes are Beginning (the first chapter), The Intrusive Author, The Epistolary Novel, Magic Realism, Irony and Metafiction. Among the authors he quotes in order to illustrate his points are Jane Austen, J. D. Salinger, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Martin Amis, F. Scott Fitzgerald and even himself.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 賳賴賲 賲丕賴 賮賵乇蹖賴 爻丕賱 2013賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰�: 亘丕 賳賲賵賳賴鈥� 賴丕蹖蹖 丕夭 賲鬲賳鈥屬囏й� 讴賱丕爻蹖讴 賵 賲丿乇賳貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 乇囟丕 乇囟丕蹖蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 賳蹖貙 1388貙 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1391貙 424氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9789641851028貨 讴鬲丕亘賳丕賲賴 丕夭 氐 387貙 鬲丕 氐 391貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 賳馗乇蹖賴 賵 賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賳賵蹖爻蹖 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 - 爻丿賴 20賲
賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 丿乇亘丕乇賴鈥� 蹖 卮蹖賵賴鈥� 賴丕貙 賵 卮诏乇丿賴丕蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰屫� 亘賴 賯賱賲: 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩禄貙 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖貙 讴賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 亘夭乇诏鈥屫臂屬� 賳賯丕丿丕賳 丿賵乇丕賳 讴賳賵賳蹖 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賲蹖亘丕卮丿貨 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩禄貙 讴賴 丕夭 趩賴乇賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 賲賲鬲丕夭 賳賯丿 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貙 亘賴鈥� 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堎嗀� 丿乇 倬賳噩丕賴 賮氐賱貙 亘賴 賲賵囟賵毓鈥屬囏� 賵 賲亘丨孬鈥屬囏й屰� 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 毓丕賱賲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 禺賵丕賳蹖貙 丕賴賲蹖鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 丿丕乇賳丿貙 賵 賴乇 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴貙 賵 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕貙 亘丕蹖丿 亘丕 丌賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿
賳賲賵賳賴 賲孬丕賱鈥屬囏ж� 賵 亘乇乇爻蹖鈥屬囏ж� 丿乇 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 亘乇 讴賲 賵 亘蹖卮: 丿賵蹖爻鬲 賲鬲賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳蹖 讴賱丕爻蹖讴貙 賵 賲丿乇賳貙 賲亘鬲賳蹖鈥� 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 讴賴 亘蹖卮鬲乇 丌賳鈥屬囏� 賲鬲賳 賲乇噩毓貙 亘賴鈥� 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫③屬嗀� 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇丕賳 賳蹖夭貙 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 讴鬲丕亘 賱匕鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 亘乇丿貙 賵 亘丕 賮賵鬲 賵 賮賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮丿貙 賵 倬丿蹖丿賴鈥� 丕蹖 亘賴 賳丕賲: 芦乇賲丕賳禄 乇丕貙 丿乇 趩卮賲鈥� 丕賳丿丕夭蹖 诏爻鬲乇丿賴 鬲乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮賳丕禺鬲貨 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕蹖 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇丕賳 賵 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳貙 亘賴 賳賵毓蹖: 讴丕乇诏丕賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 禺賵丕賳蹖貙 丕爻鬲
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 29/06/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
The Art of Fiction is a book of literary criticism by the British novelist David Lodge.
The chapters of the book first appeared in 1991-1992 as weekly columns in The Independent on Sunday and were eventually gathered into book form and published in 1992.
The essays as they appear in the book have in many cases been expanded from their original format. Lodge focuses each chapter upon one aspect of the art of fiction, comprising some fifty topics.
Every chapter also begins with a passage from classic or modern literature that Lodge feels embodies the technique or topic at hand.
Some of the topics Lodge analyzes are Beginning (the first chapter), The Intrusive Author, The Epistolary Novel, Magic Realism, Irony and Metafiction. Among the authors he quotes in order to illustrate his points are Jane Austen, J. D. Salinger, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Martin Amis, F. Scott Fitzgerald and even himself.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 賳賴賲 賲丕賴 賮賵乇蹖賴 爻丕賱 2013賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰�: 亘丕 賳賲賵賳賴鈥� 賴丕蹖蹖 丕夭 賲鬲賳鈥屬囏й� 讴賱丕爻蹖讴 賵 賲丿乇賳貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 乇囟丕 乇囟丕蹖蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 賳蹖貙 1388貙 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 1391貙 424氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9789641851028貨 讴鬲丕亘賳丕賲賴 丕夭 氐 387貙 鬲丕 氐 391貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 賳馗乇蹖賴 賵 賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賳賵蹖爻蹖 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 - 爻丿賴 20賲
賴賳乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 丿乇亘丕乇賴鈥� 蹖 卮蹖賵賴鈥� 賴丕貙 賵 卮诏乇丿賴丕蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰屫� 亘賴 賯賱賲: 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩禄貙 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖貙 讴賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 亘夭乇诏鈥屫臂屬� 賳賯丕丿丕賳 丿賵乇丕賳 讴賳賵賳蹖 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賲蹖亘丕卮丿貨 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩禄貙 讴賴 丕夭 趩賴乇賴鈥� 賴丕蹖 賲賲鬲丕夭 賳賯丿 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貙 亘賴鈥� 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堎嗀� 丿乇 倬賳噩丕賴 賮氐賱貙 亘賴 賲賵囟賵毓鈥屬囏� 賵 賲亘丨孬鈥屬囏й屰� 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 讴賴 丿乇 毓丕賱賲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 禺賵丕賳蹖貙 丕賴賲蹖鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 丿丕乇賳丿貙 賵 賴乇 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴貙 賵 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕貙 亘丕蹖丿 亘丕 丌賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿
賳賲賵賳賴 賲孬丕賱鈥屬囏ж� 賵 亘乇乇爻蹖鈥屬囏ж� 丿乇 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 亘乇 讴賲 賵 亘蹖卮: 丿賵蹖爻鬲 賲鬲賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳蹖 讴賱丕爻蹖讴貙 賵 賲丿乇賳貙 賲亘鬲賳蹖鈥� 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 讴賴 亘蹖卮鬲乇 丌賳鈥屬囏� 賲鬲賳 賲乇噩毓貙 亘賴鈥� 卮賲丕乇 賲蹖鈥屫③屬嗀� 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇丕賳 賳蹖夭貙 丕夭 禺賵丕賳卮 讴鬲丕亘 賱匕鬲 亘爻蹖丕乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 亘乇丿貙 賵 亘丕 賮賵鬲 賵 賮賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮丿貙 賵 倬丿蹖丿賴鈥� 丕蹖 亘賴 賳丕賲: 芦乇賲丕賳禄 乇丕貙 丿乇 趩卮賲鈥� 丕賳丿丕夭蹖 诏爻鬲乇丿賴 鬲乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮賳丕禺鬲貨 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘乇丕蹖 禺賵丕賳卮诏乇丕賳 賵 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳貙 亘賴 賳賵毓蹖: 讴丕乇诏丕賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 賳賵蹖爻蹖貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥� 禺賵丕賳蹖貙 丕爻鬲
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 29/06/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
March 28, 2017
Literary criticism is often daunting for a novice. I have ploughed through a lot of serious critical tomes in my life (most of them in Malayalam) to enhance my reading experience, but I must confess that I have been only partly successful: many of those erudite essays were way over my head. And when it comes to literary theory, I must shamefacedly say that I have still not understood the difference between 鈥淐lassicism鈥�, 鈥淢odernism鈥� and 鈥淧ost-Modernism鈥�. Any mention of 鈥淒econstruction鈥� is enough to have me heading for the high hills! And even though I can write a grammatically correct sentence without help, the mention of 鈥渟ynedoche鈥�, 鈥渕etonymy鈥� and the like makes me go weak in the knees.
However, as an avid reader, I am always interested in knowing what makes great literature work. What magic do these wordsmiths have, which we ordinary mortals lack, which makes us go to them again and again? It has been my dream to find a critic who would explain the tricks of the trade in simple terms for me 鈥� a dream which was realised through the above book.
In The Art of Fiction, popular novelist David Lodge explains the tools of the writer鈥檚 craft in simple English. It comprises fifty short articles, originally published as pieces in a newspaper column. Instead of quoting theory, Lodge takes one or two novels as example and uses them to illustrate particular aspects of writing good fiction. Fittingly, he begins with 鈥淏eginning鈥� and ends with 鈥淓nding鈥�!
Some of the aspects Lodge describes are common to all fiction (beginning, ending, point of view, introducing a character, suspense) while some deal with specific techniques writers use (stream of consciousness, interior monologue, repetition, defamiliarisation, time-shift): yet other chapters introduce us to schools of writing (Magical Realism, Surrealism). There are also interesting chapters on titles (I never really pondered on how much authors sweat over these!), the use of lists in stories, and the possibilities of the telephone. I found every one of them fascinating.
The author quotes from the story he is going to discuss at the beginning of each chapter, which passage is then analysed. This analysis is used as a springboard for jumping into wider aspects of the subject. Before one knows, one is engrossed in the analysis; and in the case of the stories one has read, it creates the classic 鈥渁ha!鈥� reaction 鈥� like seeing the secret behind a magic trick. And it also gives one the chance to ruminate on the same technique used by different authors (for example, Lodge鈥檚 analysis of the time-shifts in immediately had me comparing it with , a novel written entirely based on this technique).
Newton said: 鈥淕enius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.鈥� The same can be said of literature. The author鈥檚 inspiration, without the proper craft to package it, often falls flat. This book gives us an introduction that hallowed craft of the great writers; it also illustrates the fact that one can鈥檛 separate the subject from the form in case of great writing, for the novelist chooses the form of his story based on what he wants to convey. David Lodge introduced me to that craft in a very accessible way 鈥� and he has also inspired me to read the greats with a greater appreciation for their technique.
If you are a book-nerd like me without much knowledge of the workings of the great literary machine, this book is for you.
Review also on my .
However, as an avid reader, I am always interested in knowing what makes great literature work. What magic do these wordsmiths have, which we ordinary mortals lack, which makes us go to them again and again? It has been my dream to find a critic who would explain the tricks of the trade in simple terms for me 鈥� a dream which was realised through the above book.
In The Art of Fiction, popular novelist David Lodge explains the tools of the writer鈥檚 craft in simple English. It comprises fifty short articles, originally published as pieces in a newspaper column. Instead of quoting theory, Lodge takes one or two novels as example and uses them to illustrate particular aspects of writing good fiction. Fittingly, he begins with 鈥淏eginning鈥� and ends with 鈥淓nding鈥�!
Some of the aspects Lodge describes are common to all fiction (beginning, ending, point of view, introducing a character, suspense) while some deal with specific techniques writers use (stream of consciousness, interior monologue, repetition, defamiliarisation, time-shift): yet other chapters introduce us to schools of writing (Magical Realism, Surrealism). There are also interesting chapters on titles (I never really pondered on how much authors sweat over these!), the use of lists in stories, and the possibilities of the telephone. I found every one of them fascinating.
The author quotes from the story he is going to discuss at the beginning of each chapter, which passage is then analysed. This analysis is used as a springboard for jumping into wider aspects of the subject. Before one knows, one is engrossed in the analysis; and in the case of the stories one has read, it creates the classic 鈥渁ha!鈥� reaction 鈥� like seeing the secret behind a magic trick. And it also gives one the chance to ruminate on the same technique used by different authors (for example, Lodge鈥檚 analysis of the time-shifts in immediately had me comparing it with , a novel written entirely based on this technique).
Newton said: 鈥淕enius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.鈥� The same can be said of literature. The author鈥檚 inspiration, without the proper craft to package it, often falls flat. This book gives us an introduction that hallowed craft of the great writers; it also illustrates the fact that one can鈥檛 separate the subject from the form in case of great writing, for the novelist chooses the form of his story based on what he wants to convey. David Lodge introduced me to that craft in a very accessible way 鈥� and he has also inspired me to read the greats with a greater appreciation for their technique.
If you are a book-nerd like me without much knowledge of the workings of the great literary machine, this book is for you.
Review also on my .
July 19, 2023
David'skeen eye for detail and ability to dissect and analyze complex narratives make this book a standout resource for anyone eager to enhance their writing skills. He introduces various literary techniques, exploring them through carefully selected excerpts from renowned works of literature. This interactive approach truly brings the art of fiction to life, allowing us to witness the techniques in action and grasp their impact on storytelling.
As a passionate reader and aspiring writer myself, I found this book to be an invaluable guide that provides practical advice, insightful analysis, and a profound understanding of the creative process.
As a passionate reader and aspiring writer myself, I found this book to be an invaluable guide that provides practical advice, insightful analysis, and a profound understanding of the creative process.
July 15, 2022
Minor amendments 8 October 2021.
David Lodge鈥檚 book has made me think differently about my reading: indeed to read with a new eye.
To enhance our understanding of what authors do to tell their fictional stories, Lodge examines the different approaches writers can take and the numerous techniques they employ. He does not deconstruct so much as analyse the various angles we can use to understand and appreciate fiction. He talks about, among other things: beginning, ending, the intrusive author, the stream of consciousness approach, place, weather, time鈥搒hifting, staying on the surface, the telephone, irony, motivation and symbolism.
I read the book gradually, dipping in and out of the text, which helped me take in the different points as he made them. Given that I have read a number of novels since then, and that Lodge writes clearly and entertainingly, his lessons have stayed with me.
A lot of this stuff I knew already, at least on a sub-conscious level. Articulating it raises the matters to a conscious level. So what did I learn? Lots:
鈥� Names: an author chooses names carefully they 鈥榓re never neutral鈥�. They can be comic (Pumblechook), or realistic (Emma Woodhouse). I read a world war two spy story, by William Boyd, where one of the ambiguous characters, who was always on the move, was named Romer (= roamer = restless). It鈥檚 a bit of a clue. Dickens did it all the time: witness the hard man Mr Murdstone and the obsequious Uriah Heep from .
My favourite example, not from Lodge鈥檚 book, is Ian Fleming鈥檚 choice for his spy hero. He had a book of his shelf at his home Golden Eye in Jamaica called , by ornithologist James Bond, published in 1936. Fleming wanted a plain simple name. A spy is born.
鈥� Magic realism is principally practised by authors who have experienced national upheavals.
鈥� There are different ways of telling a story; by using different voices, referencing other works (intertextuality), using repetitive prose, or plain or fancy prose.
鈥� Co-incidence can be used to bring characters together and to tie events. It tends to feature more in the comic world than the more serious work.
Throughout the book Lodge uses good examples (Austen, Hemingway - repetition 'using simple denotive language purged of stylistic decoration', Bennett, Eliot) and sometimes his own novels, which has the advantage of the author knowing exactly what the creator of his illustration was trying to achieve.
I recently read a Biggles book by Captain WE Johns, , and paused to wonder why I liked it and what its enduring appeal might be. It is after all a book written for boys a very long time ago and contains outdated attitudes, is touchingly na茂ve and follows a pattern immediately familiar to readers of Captain Johns' series. Biggles and his loyal comrades come to the rescue of a small mythical European principality being monstered by a bullying neighbour, by shooting down enemy aircraft, blowing up a bridge, rescuing a diplomat and generally interfering in the politics of the warring states.
In Lodge鈥檚 terms though, the author gives us a sense of place, an exotic one, he changes our point of view, shifts time, uses co-incidence (quite a bit) and tellingly, gives us the motivation of the characters. For me the daring鈥揹o is pleasing enough but it is the doubts, apprehensions and anticipated difficulties in our hero鈥檚 head that make the story worthwhile and transcend its original purpose of spinning a yarn for the boys of pre-war Britain.
The Art of Fiction is a very good book which I thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes reading fiction.
David Lodge鈥檚 book has made me think differently about my reading: indeed to read with a new eye.
To enhance our understanding of what authors do to tell their fictional stories, Lodge examines the different approaches writers can take and the numerous techniques they employ. He does not deconstruct so much as analyse the various angles we can use to understand and appreciate fiction. He talks about, among other things: beginning, ending, the intrusive author, the stream of consciousness approach, place, weather, time鈥搒hifting, staying on the surface, the telephone, irony, motivation and symbolism.
I read the book gradually, dipping in and out of the text, which helped me take in the different points as he made them. Given that I have read a number of novels since then, and that Lodge writes clearly and entertainingly, his lessons have stayed with me.
A lot of this stuff I knew already, at least on a sub-conscious level. Articulating it raises the matters to a conscious level. So what did I learn? Lots:
鈥� Names: an author chooses names carefully they 鈥榓re never neutral鈥�. They can be comic (Pumblechook), or realistic (Emma Woodhouse). I read a world war two spy story, by William Boyd, where one of the ambiguous characters, who was always on the move, was named Romer (= roamer = restless). It鈥檚 a bit of a clue. Dickens did it all the time: witness the hard man Mr Murdstone and the obsequious Uriah Heep from .
My favourite example, not from Lodge鈥檚 book, is Ian Fleming鈥檚 choice for his spy hero. He had a book of his shelf at his home Golden Eye in Jamaica called , by ornithologist James Bond, published in 1936. Fleming wanted a plain simple name. A spy is born.
鈥� Magic realism is principally practised by authors who have experienced national upheavals.
鈥� There are different ways of telling a story; by using different voices, referencing other works (intertextuality), using repetitive prose, or plain or fancy prose.
鈥� Co-incidence can be used to bring characters together and to tie events. It tends to feature more in the comic world than the more serious work.
Throughout the book Lodge uses good examples (Austen, Hemingway - repetition 'using simple denotive language purged of stylistic decoration', Bennett, Eliot) and sometimes his own novels, which has the advantage of the author knowing exactly what the creator of his illustration was trying to achieve.
I recently read a Biggles book by Captain WE Johns, , and paused to wonder why I liked it and what its enduring appeal might be. It is after all a book written for boys a very long time ago and contains outdated attitudes, is touchingly na茂ve and follows a pattern immediately familiar to readers of Captain Johns' series. Biggles and his loyal comrades come to the rescue of a small mythical European principality being monstered by a bullying neighbour, by shooting down enemy aircraft, blowing up a bridge, rescuing a diplomat and generally interfering in the politics of the warring states.
In Lodge鈥檚 terms though, the author gives us a sense of place, an exotic one, he changes our point of view, shifts time, uses co-incidence (quite a bit) and tellingly, gives us the motivation of the characters. For me the daring鈥揹o is pleasing enough but it is the doubts, apprehensions and anticipated difficulties in our hero鈥檚 head that make the story worthwhile and transcend its original purpose of spinning a yarn for the boys of pre-war Britain.
The Art of Fiction is a very good book which I thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes reading fiction.
August 31, 2019
This book from the 90s is a collection of short columns about fiction, with topics like "the ending", "structure of a novel", "the title", etc. Each column/essay is only a few pages long and is centered around an abstract from a piece of literary fiction, mostly novels.
For a book on literary critique it's rather easy to read, also because the short sections aren't linked in any way. You don't need a long attention span. On the other hand, I found the book rather superficial. I'd hoped to maybe learn a bit more that I could use for my own writing, and I didn't. There's just not a lot of substance, and a lot of the columns are rather like "titles: have you ever considered how important a title might be for a story? because it is!" but with a nicer flow and some more intellectual words thrown in.
It's not bad as an introduction to the topics maybe, and it was an okay read, but a bit superfluous.
For a book on literary critique it's rather easy to read, also because the short sections aren't linked in any way. You don't need a long attention span. On the other hand, I found the book rather superficial. I'd hoped to maybe learn a bit more that I could use for my own writing, and I didn't. There's just not a lot of substance, and a lot of the columns are rather like "titles: have you ever considered how important a title might be for a story? because it is!" but with a nicer flow and some more intellectual words thrown in.
It's not bad as an introduction to the topics maybe, and it was an okay read, but a bit superfluous.
September 17, 2020
Literature reviews are very personal things. In school you learn English Language too, by which judgements of narrative quality, or what I as a scientist would rather call 'narrative efficiency', can be made based on the author's effective use of structural stylistic elements 鈥� punctuation, syntax and concision.
The short story is that if you want to develop original and kickass reflections of literary criticism for high school novels or plays you must write essays on, this is a brilliant book that contains many quotable examples of 'generalist principles' of what makes stylistic elements of fiction reveal author intent or improve an author's impact. In fairness, I only read half of this in my free time to bump my IB English grades up in high school, but what I learned stayed with me and gave me the confidence to construct and apply my own interpretations. Needless to say, it sure did help my grades! It's probably the strongest contributor to the pedantic and critical scrutiny I sometimes I apply in my reviews.
The short story is that if you want to develop original and kickass reflections of literary criticism for high school novels or plays you must write essays on, this is a brilliant book that contains many quotable examples of 'generalist principles' of what makes stylistic elements of fiction reveal author intent or improve an author's impact. In fairness, I only read half of this in my free time to bump my IB English grades up in high school, but what I learned stayed with me and gave me the confidence to construct and apply my own interpretations. Needless to say, it sure did help my grades! It's probably the strongest contributor to the pedantic and critical scrutiny I sometimes I apply in my reviews.
April 28, 2015
The very fact that the book has compelled me to put down my thoughts here when I've barely finished reading a quarter of it should reflect on how much a wonderful read it is.
What David Lodge has done is quite simple - he has chosen a variety of styles in fiction eg intrusive author, unreliable narrator, suspense, symbolism, magical realism, interior monologue etc and illustrated each of them with a passage taken from a well known book with a succinct missive to go with them.
The beauty of the book is in its discretion and economy, making it easier to relate it to a lay reader ( by which I mean a reader who had the fortune of escaping the painful literary expositions of neurotic university professors).
Consider these chapters - Interior Monologue, Stream of Consciousness, Symbolism - as I think of these literary techniques, left to myself, I would have choosen Edouard Dujardin, James Joyce and Scott Fitzgerald, but then I realise how wrong my choices would be, because these chaps almost master and monopolise their respective techniques, thereby rendering themselves a poorer example for an average lay reader.
Then as you read the simple missives, you see why David Lodge's choices are James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and DH Lawrence!
I gather these chapters appeared as weekly articles in the Independent in the 90s. I could easily picture myself religiously waiting for the articles every week, so that I could cut them off for my collection. Well, with the book, I guess that would be unnecessary.
What David Lodge has done is quite simple - he has chosen a variety of styles in fiction eg intrusive author, unreliable narrator, suspense, symbolism, magical realism, interior monologue etc and illustrated each of them with a passage taken from a well known book with a succinct missive to go with them.
The beauty of the book is in its discretion and economy, making it easier to relate it to a lay reader ( by which I mean a reader who had the fortune of escaping the painful literary expositions of neurotic university professors).
Consider these chapters - Interior Monologue, Stream of Consciousness, Symbolism - as I think of these literary techniques, left to myself, I would have choosen Edouard Dujardin, James Joyce and Scott Fitzgerald, but then I realise how wrong my choices would be, because these chaps almost master and monopolise their respective techniques, thereby rendering themselves a poorer example for an average lay reader.
Then as you read the simple missives, you see why David Lodge's choices are James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and DH Lawrence!
I gather these chapters appeared as weekly articles in the Independent in the 90s. I could easily picture myself religiously waiting for the articles every week, so that I could cut them off for my collection. Well, with the book, I guess that would be unnecessary.
October 1, 2015
鬲乇噩蹖丨 賲蹖鈥屫� 賳讴鬲賴鈥屫й� 丕卮丕乇賴 讴賳賲
賳賯丕胤 賯賵鬲 讴鬲丕亘:
郾- 鬲毓丿丿 賳讴丕鬲 賵 賲鬲賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 賲禺丕胤亘 亘丕 蹖讴 诏爻鬲乇賴鈥屰� 禺賵亘 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屬囏й屰� 讴賴 賲賵乇丿 毓賱丕賯賴鈥屰� 賲禺丕胤亘 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕蹖蹖鈥屫з�.
鄄- 丿乇讴賽 芦丕夭 丿乇賵賳賽禄 丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏蹖 賵 鬲乇賮賳丿賴丕卮.
鄢- 丕賳鬲禺丕亘 丿乇爻鬲 爻乇賮氐賱鈥屬囏� 賵 丨蹖胤賴鈥屬囏�.
鄞- 倬賵卮卮 卮蹖賵賴鈥屬囏й� 乇賲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰� 丕夭 讴賱丕爻蹖讴鈥� 鬲丕 倬爻丕倬爻鬲鈥屬呚辟嗃屫�!
賳賯丕胤 囟毓賮:
郾- 鬲乇噩賲賴鈥屰� (賳賴 賳丕賲賮賴賵賲貙 賵賱蹖) 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 睾賱胤貙 讴跇賮賴賲蹖 賵 賳丕亘賱丿蹖賽 賲鬲乇噩賲 倬乇賲丿毓丕.
鄄- 夭蹖丕丿鬲乇 丕夭 丨丿 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕蹖蹖 賵 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖鈥屫藏ㄘз嗏€屬呚堌� 亘賵丿賳賽 賲賵賱賮. 賲孬賱 賯乇蹖亘 亘賴 丕鬲賮丕賯 賲賵賱賮鈥屬囏й� 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 賵 丕賲乇蹖讴丕蹖蹖.
鄢- 賵丕讴丕賵蹖 賲毓賱賲鈥屬堌ж� 賵 賳賴 賲賳鬲賯丿丕賳賴鈥屰� 禺蹖賱蹖 丕夭 賳讴丕鬲.
鄞- 丕乇噩丕毓 亘賴 賲鬲賵賳 禺賵丿卮貙 讴賴 丕賱丨賯 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屰� 亘夭乇诏蹖 賳蹖爻鬲.
丿乇 讴賱 丕夭 賱丨丕馗 鬲卅賵乇蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬矩必ж槽� 禺蹖賱蹖 囟毓賮 賲乇噩毓 丿丕乇蹖賲貙 倬爻 毓賱蹖鈥屫з勜池ж� 賴賲蹖賳 讴丕乇賽 倬乇睾賱胤 乇囟丕 乇囟丕蹖蹖 乇賵 亘丕蹖丿 禺賵賳丿.
賳賯丕胤 賯賵鬲 讴鬲丕亘:
郾- 鬲毓丿丿 賳讴丕鬲 賵 賲鬲賳鈥屬囏ж� 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 賲禺丕胤亘 亘丕 蹖讴 诏爻鬲乇賴鈥屰� 禺賵亘 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屬囏й屰� 讴賴 賲賵乇丿 毓賱丕賯賴鈥屰� 賲禺丕胤亘 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕蹖蹖鈥屫з�.
鄄- 丿乇讴賽 芦丕夭 丿乇賵賳賽禄 丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱丕噩 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏蹖 賵 鬲乇賮賳丿賴丕卮.
鄢- 丕賳鬲禺丕亘 丿乇爻鬲 爻乇賮氐賱鈥屬囏� 賵 丨蹖胤賴鈥屬囏�.
鄞- 倬賵卮卮 卮蹖賵賴鈥屬囏й� 乇賲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰� 丕夭 讴賱丕爻蹖讴鈥� 鬲丕 倬爻丕倬爻鬲鈥屬呚辟嗃屫�!
賳賯丕胤 囟毓賮:
郾- 鬲乇噩賲賴鈥屰� (賳賴 賳丕賲賮賴賵賲貙 賵賱蹖) 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 睾賱胤貙 讴跇賮賴賲蹖 賵 賳丕亘賱丿蹖賽 賲鬲乇噩賲 倬乇賲丿毓丕.
鄄- 夭蹖丕丿鬲乇 丕夭 丨丿 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕蹖蹖 賵 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖鈥屫藏ㄘз嗏€屬呚堌� 亘賵丿賳賽 賲賵賱賮. 賲孬賱 賯乇蹖亘 亘賴 丕鬲賮丕賯 賲賵賱賮鈥屬囏й� 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 賵 丕賲乇蹖讴丕蹖蹖.
鄢- 賵丕讴丕賵蹖 賲毓賱賲鈥屬堌ж� 賵 賳賴 賲賳鬲賯丿丕賳賴鈥屰� 禺蹖賱蹖 丕夭 賳讴丕鬲.
鄞- 丕乇噩丕毓 亘賴 賲鬲賵賳 禺賵丿卮貙 讴賴 丕賱丨賯 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屰� 亘夭乇诏蹖 賳蹖爻鬲.
丿乇 讴賱 丕夭 賱丨丕馗 鬲卅賵乇蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬矩必ж槽� 禺蹖賱蹖 囟毓賮 賲乇噩毓 丿丕乇蹖賲貙 倬爻 毓賱蹖鈥屫з勜池ж� 賴賲蹖賳 讴丕乇賽 倬乇睾賱胤 乇囟丕 乇囟丕蹖蹖 乇賵 亘丕蹖丿 禺賵賳丿.
August 8, 2014
I鈥檓 taking another online course at Oxford University (continuing education) this fall, and one of the books we have to read for the course is this one. I knew of David Lodge already but have never read anything by him. I love reading literary critique, or whatever you would call this compilation of extracts analyzed with different literary perspectives, especially when the author of the book is also a writer and can thus appreciate and not merely analyze the texts. The book is a relatively small paperback, very accessible due to the short chapters and the lack of too much jargon, and very readable.
It was useful and interesting the way in which Lodge delved into a multitude of aspects, some of which I had expected (like characters, point of view, suspense, the sense of place) but some which I hadn鈥檛 thought much about (like lists, coincidence, the telephone). (I did wonder why he didn鈥檛 have a chapter about dialog, expecting an extract from a Hemingway short story or something). I enjoyed how he often put the texts he used into a literary/historical context, and of course I particularly enjoyed the sections where I had actually read the novels he referred to (e.g. by Austen, Waugh, Dickens, Forster), though thankfully he almost never refers to any obscure authors I didn鈥檛 know.
Having said this, one thing annoyed me 鈥� on several occasions, namely that he couldn鈥檛 suppress the urge to include his own work, sometimes in chapters alongside some of the Great Authors. This irked me because surely he could have found a dozen other works to illustrate some of those points (although, granted, it gave us an insider鈥檚 perspective, but still). I just basically feel that if you鈥檝e written or otherwise done something pretty brilliant or noteworthy, it鈥檚 up to someone else to point it out, not you.
The book is from 1992 so there aren鈥檛 any very recent examples, through no fault of Lodge鈥檚 obviously, but I鈥檇 like to read something like this which might also include extracts by authors like Barnes and McEwan, or Rowling for that matter, although I do appreciate that most of the works he refers to here (apart from his own 鈥� sic!) could be considered classics of more or less international standard.
It was useful and interesting the way in which Lodge delved into a multitude of aspects, some of which I had expected (like characters, point of view, suspense, the sense of place) but some which I hadn鈥檛 thought much about (like lists, coincidence, the telephone). (I did wonder why he didn鈥檛 have a chapter about dialog, expecting an extract from a Hemingway short story or something). I enjoyed how he often put the texts he used into a literary/historical context, and of course I particularly enjoyed the sections where I had actually read the novels he referred to (e.g. by Austen, Waugh, Dickens, Forster), though thankfully he almost never refers to any obscure authors I didn鈥檛 know.
Having said this, one thing annoyed me 鈥� on several occasions, namely that he couldn鈥檛 suppress the urge to include his own work, sometimes in chapters alongside some of the Great Authors. This irked me because surely he could have found a dozen other works to illustrate some of those points (although, granted, it gave us an insider鈥檚 perspective, but still). I just basically feel that if you鈥檝e written or otherwise done something pretty brilliant or noteworthy, it鈥檚 up to someone else to point it out, not you.
The book is from 1992 so there aren鈥檛 any very recent examples, through no fault of Lodge鈥檚 obviously, but I鈥檇 like to read something like this which might also include extracts by authors like Barnes and McEwan, or Rowling for that matter, although I do appreciate that most of the works he refers to here (apart from his own 鈥� sic!) could be considered classics of more or less international standard.
November 24, 2020
No wonder The Art of Fiction is mandatory in the bibliography of many Literature 101 students. It explains beautifully, by analyzing excerpts from various masterpieces, essential notions of literary theory and criticism. Even if its 50 sections were initially written for a weekly newspaper column, and with the declared intention to be comprehensible to a general public, "The Art of Fiction" introduces the basic notions for anyone who intends to lose the innocence of reading and become a critic en herbe.
Somehow ironically dull, the book begins with the Beginning, and ends, of course with the Ending, both chapters presenting various ways to introduce and finish a story. In between, we learn about narrative voices, about the form and the structure, the time and the space, the language, the plot and so on, as we did (and forgot!) in high school and college.
I liked a lot of text analyses and, as always, I enjoyed reading Lodge, although I have to confess I'm familiar with many of the notions presented.
However, I've learnt some, too:
- that you can use the term "skaz" "to designate a type of first-person narration that has the characteristics of the spoken rather than the written word." (The Catcher in the Rye is an example);
- that another term for poetic prose is fancy prose;
- that there is a form of intertextuality named "missed opportunity" (a piece of information that would have suited a novel had it been discovered while writing it);
- that there is an experimental novel named Alphabetical Africa in which the first chapter contains only words that begin with "a", the second with "b, a", the third "c, b, a", and so on until "z", and then back until "a" again;
- that Paul Eluard could have saved the life of the surrealist Czech poet Zavis Kalandra but he refused to intervene.
On the other hand, I don't think I'm too comfortable with the term "non-fiction novel", which is very oxymoronic (to use an euphemism for contradiction in terms) even if it was coined by Truman Capote, and I perfectly understand his reasons. Anyway, I prefer Tom Wolfe's "new journalism" to describe this type of novel.
I was amused to discover that I had already spotted many of the tricks David Lodge reveals here that he used in his own novels.
Overall, as usual, and I repeat myself, I love the critic Lodge as much as I love the novelist. And of course, my to-read list is longer now, including Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Fay Weldon, Female Friends, Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, and Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable.
P.S. More than five years later, I'm proud to say that I read all the books above and not a single one was disappoining, au contraire.
Somehow ironically dull, the book begins with the Beginning, and ends, of course with the Ending, both chapters presenting various ways to introduce and finish a story. In between, we learn about narrative voices, about the form and the structure, the time and the space, the language, the plot and so on, as we did (and forgot!) in high school and college.
I liked a lot of text analyses and, as always, I enjoyed reading Lodge, although I have to confess I'm familiar with many of the notions presented.
However, I've learnt some, too:
- that you can use the term "skaz" "to designate a type of first-person narration that has the characteristics of the spoken rather than the written word." (The Catcher in the Rye is an example);
- that another term for poetic prose is fancy prose;
- that there is a form of intertextuality named "missed opportunity" (a piece of information that would have suited a novel had it been discovered while writing it);
- that there is an experimental novel named Alphabetical Africa in which the first chapter contains only words that begin with "a", the second with "b, a", the third "c, b, a", and so on until "z", and then back until "a" again;
- that Paul Eluard could have saved the life of the surrealist Czech poet Zavis Kalandra but he refused to intervene.
On the other hand, I don't think I'm too comfortable with the term "non-fiction novel", which is very oxymoronic (to use an euphemism for contradiction in terms) even if it was coined by Truman Capote, and I perfectly understand his reasons. Anyway, I prefer Tom Wolfe's "new journalism" to describe this type of novel.
I was amused to discover that I had already spotted many of the tricks David Lodge reveals here that he used in his own novels.
Overall, as usual, and I repeat myself, I love the critic Lodge as much as I love the novelist. And of course, my to-read list is longer now, including Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Fay Weldon, Female Friends, Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, and Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable.
P.S. More than five years later, I'm proud to say that I read all the books above and not a single one was disappoining, au contraire.
April 6, 2018
When I first picked it up some months ago and browsed some pages inside, I didn't want to read it due to its seemingly formidable technical terms in 50 headings but I later changed my mind due to its affirmation as follows, "Bringing to criticism the verve and humour of his own words, David Lodge has provided essential reading for students of literature, aspirant writers, and anyone who wishes to understand how literature works." (back cover) Moreover, Professor Lodge's fame and contribution as a university academic as well as a highly-acclaimed novelist himself have impressed me; his novels include The Picturegoers (1960), The British Museum is Falling Down (1965), Out of the Shelter (1970), to name but a few. His Changing Places (1975) was awarded the Hawthornden Prize and the Yorkshire Post Fiction Prize; Nice Work won the 1988 Sunday Express Book of the Year Award; Paradise News (1991) was regional winner and finalist for the 1996 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and more. (p. i)
I found reading this book arguably rewarding and challenging due to his narratives tinged with appropriate examples; however, I wouldn't claim I understood all he said there, rather I left a number of highly-technical points at that for those who know to digest since I need time to reflect on some issues as far as I can and hope someone out there with his/her charismatic wisdom could shed me some glimpses of light when the time comes.
As we can see from the title, it deals with the art of fiction covering 50 headings (sections as mentioned by Dr Lodge, I wonder if there are more); each one being immediately presented by an exemplified text from a novelist and his/her work. This implies we should read from our familiar novelists and novels first, one of the reasons is that it is easier and more manageable to read about what we have read written by our favorite novelists. In retrospect, I found reading the following 27 headings, their texts, the novelists and the novels twice harder because I had never read them:
1 Beginning (Jane Austen, Ford Maddox Ford)
3 Suspense (Thomas Hardy)
5 The Epistolary Novel (Michael Frayn)
6 Point of View (Henry James)
8 Names (David Lodge, Paul Aster)
12 The Sense of Place (Martin Armis)
14 Introducing a Character (Christopher Isherwood)
15 Surprise (William Makepeace Thackeray)
17 The Reader in the Text (Laurence Sterne)
22 The Experimental Novel (Henry Green)
24 Magic Realism (Milan Kundera)
25 Staying on the Surface (Malcolm Bradbury)
26 Showing and Telling (Henry Fielding)
27 Telling in Different Voices (Fay Weldon)
28 A Sense of the Past (John Fowles)
31 Allegory (Samuel Butler)
33 Coincidence (Henry James)
38 Surrealism (Leonora Carrington)
39 Irony (Arnold Bennett)
40 Motivation (George Eliot)
41 Duration (Donald Barthelme)
42 Implication (William Cooper)
43 The Title (George Gissing)
44 Ideas (Anthony Burgess)
45 The Non-Fiction Novel (Thomas Carlyle)
46 Metafiction (John Barth)
48 Narrative Structure (Leonard Michaels)
As for the remaining 23 I would leave them for those readers interested in tasting themselves as they like since it's time consuming and not challenging to do all; therefore, I would say something on a heading based on the accompanied text with three queries: 1) What does the heading mean? 2) Why is it an art of fiction? and 3) How does it play a role in the exemplary extract taken from the fiction?
The one I mean is No. 35 The Exotic, its two-paragraph excerpt has been taken from Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter (1948) followed by the author's five-paragraph, nearly three-page text. Now I would try to find the answers from the text itself.
1) By "exotic", the author means foreign, not necessarily glamorous or alluring. (p. 159)
2) Since "the exotic in fiction is the mediation of an "abroad" to an audience assumed to be located at "home"" (p. 159); therefore, it has primarily been adopted as an art in fiction by means of depicting anything exotic, that is, things naturally or physically different from what the novelists have long been familiar in their motherland. Moreover, it's interesting to read/hear him mention imperialism, its aftermath and exotic settings inevitably narrated especially in British novels in the last 150 years.
To continue . . .
I found reading this book arguably rewarding and challenging due to his narratives tinged with appropriate examples; however, I wouldn't claim I understood all he said there, rather I left a number of highly-technical points at that for those who know to digest since I need time to reflect on some issues as far as I can and hope someone out there with his/her charismatic wisdom could shed me some glimpses of light when the time comes.
As we can see from the title, it deals with the art of fiction covering 50 headings (sections as mentioned by Dr Lodge, I wonder if there are more); each one being immediately presented by an exemplified text from a novelist and his/her work. This implies we should read from our familiar novelists and novels first, one of the reasons is that it is easier and more manageable to read about what we have read written by our favorite novelists. In retrospect, I found reading the following 27 headings, their texts, the novelists and the novels twice harder because I had never read them:
1 Beginning (Jane Austen, Ford Maddox Ford)
3 Suspense (Thomas Hardy)
5 The Epistolary Novel (Michael Frayn)
6 Point of View (Henry James)
8 Names (David Lodge, Paul Aster)
12 The Sense of Place (Martin Armis)
14 Introducing a Character (Christopher Isherwood)
15 Surprise (William Makepeace Thackeray)
17 The Reader in the Text (Laurence Sterne)
22 The Experimental Novel (Henry Green)
24 Magic Realism (Milan Kundera)
25 Staying on the Surface (Malcolm Bradbury)
26 Showing and Telling (Henry Fielding)
27 Telling in Different Voices (Fay Weldon)
28 A Sense of the Past (John Fowles)
31 Allegory (Samuel Butler)
33 Coincidence (Henry James)
38 Surrealism (Leonora Carrington)
39 Irony (Arnold Bennett)
40 Motivation (George Eliot)
41 Duration (Donald Barthelme)
42 Implication (William Cooper)
43 The Title (George Gissing)
44 Ideas (Anthony Burgess)
45 The Non-Fiction Novel (Thomas Carlyle)
46 Metafiction (John Barth)
48 Narrative Structure (Leonard Michaels)
As for the remaining 23 I would leave them for those readers interested in tasting themselves as they like since it's time consuming and not challenging to do all; therefore, I would say something on a heading based on the accompanied text with three queries: 1) What does the heading mean? 2) Why is it an art of fiction? and 3) How does it play a role in the exemplary extract taken from the fiction?
The one I mean is No. 35 The Exotic, its two-paragraph excerpt has been taken from Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter (1948) followed by the author's five-paragraph, nearly three-page text. Now I would try to find the answers from the text itself.
1) By "exotic", the author means foreign, not necessarily glamorous or alluring. (p. 159)
2) Since "the exotic in fiction is the mediation of an "abroad" to an audience assumed to be located at "home"" (p. 159); therefore, it has primarily been adopted as an art in fiction by means of depicting anything exotic, that is, things naturally or physically different from what the novelists have long been familiar in their motherland. Moreover, it's interesting to read/hear him mention imperialism, its aftermath and exotic settings inevitably narrated especially in British novels in the last 150 years.
To continue . . .
May 20, 2015
I'm not in the mood for fiction at the moment - I know, that is a ridiculously sweeping thing to say, but really I'm not. I had hoped that in reading this basic introduction to literary criticism that I might have a surge of wonder and excitement, see all that I was missing, and rush out and bury myself in a novel.
It was not to be. I huffed and puffed my way from chapter to chapter, feeling irritated and disgruntled. Firstly by the extracts from various novels - none of which appealed - and then by the analysis of each piece. It all felt flat and boring, and either difficult to understand, or blindingly obvious. (Yes, I was feeling that ratty.) I did learn a bit though, so there is therefore a second star in my rating.
I am just grateful that in this amazing universe of books there is something for everyone, and the world of fiction will be ready and waiting for when I am once again in the mood.
I feel it relevant to mention that most other reviews for this book are incredibly complimentary. I think a lot of my negativity just comes from my current reading preferences.
It was not to be. I huffed and puffed my way from chapter to chapter, feeling irritated and disgruntled. Firstly by the extracts from various novels - none of which appealed - and then by the analysis of each piece. It all felt flat and boring, and either difficult to understand, or blindingly obvious. (Yes, I was feeling that ratty.) I did learn a bit though, so there is therefore a second star in my rating.
I am just grateful that in this amazing universe of books there is something for everyone, and the world of fiction will be ready and waiting for when I am once again in the mood.
I feel it relevant to mention that most other reviews for this book are incredibly complimentary. I think a lot of my negativity just comes from my current reading preferences.
Shelved as 'partial-read'
April 24, 2023Read about a quarter of this. They were originally newspaper articles, and while 2 or 3 of them have given me some direction for further reading, the treatment of each subject is just far too shallow to be of much use.
July 18, 2015
賲賳 亘丕 鬲乇噩賲賴 蹖 鬲丨鬲 丕賱賱賮馗蹖卮 禺蹖賱蹖 賲卮讴賱 丿丕卮鬲賲 亘丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 賲鬲乇噩賲 丕夭 鬲乇噩賲賴 賴丕蹖 賲賵噩賵丿 丿乇 亘丕夭丕乇 丕蹖乇丕丿 诏乇賮鬲賴 亘賵丿.
讴鬲丕亘 禺賵亘 亘賵丿. 趩蹖夭丕蹖蹖 讴賴 亘丕蹖丿 亘诏賴 乇賵 诏賮鬲賴 亘賵丿. 賲孬賱丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賳賵蹖爻蹖 蹖丕丿 丿丕丿賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲.
讴鬲丕亘 禺賵亘 亘賵丿. 趩蹖夭丕蹖蹖 讴賴 亘丕蹖丿 亘诏賴 乇賵 诏賮鬲賴 亘賵丿. 賲孬賱丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賳賵蹖爻蹖 蹖丕丿 丿丕丿賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲.
March 2, 2013
賰鬲丕亘 乇丕卅毓 賮賶 鬲亘賵賷亘賴 毓賳 賮賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賵丕賱賯氐丞 . 賵賯丿 亘賱睾 廿毓噩丕亘賶 亘賴 兀賳 賯賲鬲 亘鬲乇噩賲鬲賴 丕賱賶 丕賱毓乇亘賷丞 賵氐丿乇 毓賳 丕賱賲卮乇賵毓 丕賱賯賵賲賶 賱賱鬲乇丨賲丞 亘丕賱賯丕賴乇丞.
賵賷鬲賯爻賲 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 丕賱賶 禺賲爻賷賳 賮氐賱丕 貙 賷賯賵賲 丕賱賲丐賱賮 賮賶 賰賱 賮氐賱 亘鬲賳丕賵賱 賳丕丨賷丞 禺丕氐丞 賮賶 丕賱鬲兀賱賷賮 丕賱乇賵丕卅賶 . 賵賯丿 噩丿丿 賲賳 匕賱賰 丕賱鬲賳丕賵賱 貙 賮賮賶 賮氐賱 賷毓丕賱噩 丕毓鬲賲丕丿 毓賱賶 丕賱乇爻丕卅賱 貙 賵毓賱賶 丕賱鬲賱賷賮賵賳 貙 賵賴賰匕丕 . 賵賴賵 賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷丕鬲 賱賰賱 賲賳 賷乇賷丿 丕賱鬲毓乇賮 毓賱賶 賮賳賵賳 賰鬲丕亘丞 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞
賵賷鬲賯爻賲 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 丕賱賶 禺賲爻賷賳 賮氐賱丕 貙 賷賯賵賲 丕賱賲丐賱賮 賮賶 賰賱 賮氐賱 亘鬲賳丕賵賱 賳丕丨賷丞 禺丕氐丞 賮賶 丕賱鬲兀賱賷賮 丕賱乇賵丕卅賶 . 賵賯丿 噩丿丿 賲賳 匕賱賰 丕賱鬲賳丕賵賱 貙 賮賮賶 賮氐賱 賷毓丕賱噩 丕毓鬲賲丕丿 毓賱賶 丕賱乇爻丕卅賱 貙 賵毓賱賶 丕賱鬲賱賷賮賵賳 貙 賵賴賰匕丕 . 賵賴賵 賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷丕鬲 賱賰賱 賲賳 賷乇賷丿 丕賱鬲毓乇賮 毓賱賶 賮賳賵賳 賰鬲丕亘丞 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞
May 4, 2017
The first of all, that i must say before that i write my review is saying, that "Art of fiction" was written by David Lodge. It is not a bad book. If "Art of fiction" had been a bad book i would have rated with two, or one star.
I must recognise, that David Losdge writes rather well, and he is a perfect Professor of Literary Theory. The topics, which he speaks are well chosen. It is a good point the division of the chapters in fifty chapters. The book is really good translated to spanish.
In my opinion the problem of this book is that some writers, that David Lodge has chosen writers that i like to me very much. All writers of the 19th century, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark, Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess (in my opinion is more than the writer of "Orange clockworth. Reverte that he is not catholic loves "Earthly Powers"). Despite not being catholic other writers interest to me really much. I am thinking in the anglo-japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro not reliable narrator. In my shelve i have dead of sadness his novel "The buried giant". Other writers i have not any problems to read for instance William Golding. The disadvantage of this essay is that some writers who choose David Lodge made me sick (i thought that being culturally catholic Lodge would have other references as Evelyn Waugh, but i see that weight more in his heart Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce). In the case of Virginia Woolf (the woman, who accussed Maurice Baring of being irrelevant). In my opinion the irrelevant is her. And her stream of consciousness does not impress to me. James Joyce Ok. i have read his "Dubliners" and it is Ok. But he is one of the most overrated writers of our planet. His "Ulyssess" is a headache to read it :-( (i bet with my father 60 euros that i read it. The book continue in my Shelve). In other case Lodge persuades to me not reading authors that i had in my shelve. I am thinking in Angela Carter whom i expeled of my shelve, and more after David Lodge saying about her and her mates Fay Weldon, and Leanore Cattington (i preffer the Leanore of the Raven). Martin Amis made me to have an instinctive antipathy. Fowles is not a bad writer, but his private life scare away to me. The plot of Malcolm Bradbury`s novel reject to me that the same poles of a magnet. The beggining of "Lolita" is briliant, but we must not forget that it is the story of an incest, pedrastian, a murder. About D.H. Lawrence he had the luck to be borned in England in other country, where the sex had not been taboo he would have died of starving. In France he had been other pornography writer. Lawrence saved because the society of his time was very puritan. Besides there are writers, who write better than him. I thought in the writer Megan Maxwell.
The main problem of this book is that this book surrended to the political correction. We are slaves of the critics, who raised these writers to the secular shrine. I missed more names G.K. Chesterton (in words of Paul Johnson he was expelled of the English writers as the fairies, and Elves, despite being the master of Kafka, Karel Capek, or Borges) i missed Tolkien, I missed Maurice Baring, i missed Robert Hugh Benson, Nancy Mitford, Sheila Kaye Smith, Somerset Maugham the list is incredibly long.
For this reason the literary guides are not infallible. They can help us, but they are not the Holy Bible. We must find a balance between the critics, and the popular taste (because it has not ever the public taste is the best. Our age is the bitter fruit and the evidence that i say it. It is true). The thing is looking for the blessed an aristotlelic middle point. Perhaps for somebody my review might be very hard, but the lecture of Benjamin Dexter/Graham Greene in "The third man" is harder than my review, and the fair anger of the spanish writer Juan Manuel de Prada in his last novel "White blackbird, black swan", where at the beggining of his novel he whips to the authors aclaimed by the critics. They are bored, i fear it.
I want to conclude my review lighting to the 欧宝娱乐 Users, saying something good. I love the references of David Lodge to their novels, and i recomend "Art of fiction" to future writers. However continue trusting in their favorite writers. Nobody speak about Mika Waltari, Louis de Wohl, and Maxence van der Meersch, and i love them. The proffessor of a friend said to her "That we were the fruit of our fantasies".
............................................................................................................................................................................
Lo primero de todo, que debo decir antes de empezar esta cr铆tica es decir, que "El arte de la ficci贸n" de David Lodge. No es un mal libro. Si lo fuera no le habr铆a puesto tres estrellas, sino una estrella, o dos.
Debo reconocer, que David Lodge escribe muy bien, y es un profesor de Teor铆a Literaria muy competente. Los temas, que trata est谩n muy bien escogidos, as铆 como tambi茅n es un acierto la divisi贸n, que ha hecho en 50 cap铆tulos. El libro, est谩 muy bien traducido.
A m铆 modo de ver el problema del libro es que algunos escritores me gustaban los del siglo XIX, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark, Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess. Otros pese a no ser cat贸lico tengo inter茅s por leerles, como Kazuo Ishiguro. Ah铆 tengo en mi estanter铆a muerto de aburrimiento "El gigante enterrado". Otros no me incomodaba leerles como William Golding. El tal贸n de aquiles de Lodge es que muchos de los escritores de David Lodge me producen abierta repulsi贸n. Pienso en Virginia Woolf (la mujer, que acus贸 a Maurice Baring de ser superficial). Es curioso, pero a m铆 es ella la que me parece superficial, y su flujo de la conciencia. No me inspira mucho confianza. James Joyce vale que le he le铆do, y aprob茅 sus "Dublineses" (que son correctitos), pero es que uno de los escritores m谩s sobrevalorados del planeta, y su "Ulises" es un dolor de cabeza leerlo. En algunos casos el libro de Lodge, me ha disuadido de leer a otros escritores que ten铆a en mi estanter铆a pienso en Angela Carter, a la que he apartado de mi estanter铆a, despu茅s de lo que dice Lodge de ella, y de sus compa帽eras Fay Weldon, y Eleonora Cattington. Martin Amis es un escritor, que inspira en m铆 una antipat铆a instintiva. Fowles no ser铆a un mal escritor el problema es que su vida privada me retrae. El argumento de la novela de Macolm Bradbury me repel铆a como un im谩n. Estoy de acuerdo que el arranque de Nabokov es brillante, pero no nos enga帽emos es la historia de una pedrastia, un incesto, y un asesinato. Que voy a decir de D.H. Lawrence, que tuvo la suerte de nacer en Inglaterra si hubiera nacido en una sociedad, que se escandalizase menos del sexo se hubiera muerto de hambre. Lo que le salv贸 fue el puritanismo de la sociedad en la que viv铆a. En Francia hubiera sido un escritor m谩s de literatura pornogr谩fica, y no se le considerar铆a una figura para este tipo de literatura pueden leer a mi amiga Megan Maxwell, que lo hace mejor, que Lawrence.
Ah铆 est谩 el problema del libro, que se ha rendido a la correcci贸n pol铆tica, y ha elevado a los altares a los ad lateres proclamados por los popes y cr铆ticos que han modelado el pensamiento del siglo XX (por desgracia). Se echan de menos nombres, que eran muy populares, aunque hoy no nos digan nada el gran G.K. Chesterton (en palabras de Paul Johnson relegado y expulsado de las universidades brit谩nicas, pese a ser el maestro de Kafka, K. Capek, y Jorge Luis Borges). Ech贸 de menos a J.R.R. Tolkien, ech贸 de menos al valiente Baring. Ech贸 de menos a Robert Hugh Benson. Ech贸 de menos a Nancy Mitford, ech贸 de menos a Sheila Kaye Smith. Ech贸 de menos que se tratase otras novelas de Burgess. Ech贸 de menos a Somerset Maugham, y a tantos otros.
Por eso yo pienso, que las gu铆as literarias pueden ayudarnos, pero no son la Biblia, ni tienen la infalibilidad. Creo, que hay que buscar un equilibrio entre la cr铆tica, y los gustos populares (porque no siempre lo que le gusta al p煤blico es bueno, y prueba de ello es lo que compra actualmente). La cosa est谩 en buscar el bendito, y aristot茅lico punto medio. A Algunos les podr谩 parecer duro mi an谩lisis, pero no menos duro, que la conferencia que BenjaminDexter/GrahamGreene pronunci贸 contra sus contempor谩neos en el "Tercer hombre", ni la justa ira de mi adorado Juan Manuel de Prada en su brillante novela "Mirlo blanco, cisne negro", d贸nde al principio fustiga a los autores consagrados por la cr铆tica actual, y que son aburrid铆simos, me temo.
Con todo quiero finalizar mi cr铆tica insuflando un poco de luz (diciendo algo bueno) me gusta las acotaciones de David Lodge a sus novelas, y recomiendo leer este libro a futuros escritores en ciernes. Con todo sigan confiando en sus escritores predilectos. Ya nadie habla de Mika Waltari, Louis de Wohl, o Maxence van der Meersch, y a m铆 me encantan. Como dir铆a el profesor de una amiga m铆a "somos el fruto de nuestras fantas铆as".
I must recognise, that David Losdge writes rather well, and he is a perfect Professor of Literary Theory. The topics, which he speaks are well chosen. It is a good point the division of the chapters in fifty chapters. The book is really good translated to spanish.
In my opinion the problem of this book is that some writers, that David Lodge has chosen writers that i like to me very much. All writers of the 19th century, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark, Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess (in my opinion is more than the writer of "Orange clockworth. Reverte that he is not catholic loves "Earthly Powers"). Despite not being catholic other writers interest to me really much. I am thinking in the anglo-japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro not reliable narrator. In my shelve i have dead of sadness his novel "The buried giant". Other writers i have not any problems to read for instance William Golding. The disadvantage of this essay is that some writers who choose David Lodge made me sick (i thought that being culturally catholic Lodge would have other references as Evelyn Waugh, but i see that weight more in his heart Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce). In the case of Virginia Woolf (the woman, who accussed Maurice Baring of being irrelevant). In my opinion the irrelevant is her. And her stream of consciousness does not impress to me. James Joyce Ok. i have read his "Dubliners" and it is Ok. But he is one of the most overrated writers of our planet. His "Ulyssess" is a headache to read it :-( (i bet with my father 60 euros that i read it. The book continue in my Shelve). In other case Lodge persuades to me not reading authors that i had in my shelve. I am thinking in Angela Carter whom i expeled of my shelve, and more after David Lodge saying about her and her mates Fay Weldon, and Leanore Cattington (i preffer the Leanore of the Raven). Martin Amis made me to have an instinctive antipathy. Fowles is not a bad writer, but his private life scare away to me. The plot of Malcolm Bradbury`s novel reject to me that the same poles of a magnet. The beggining of "Lolita" is briliant, but we must not forget that it is the story of an incest, pedrastian, a murder. About D.H. Lawrence he had the luck to be borned in England in other country, where the sex had not been taboo he would have died of starving. In France he had been other pornography writer. Lawrence saved because the society of his time was very puritan. Besides there are writers, who write better than him. I thought in the writer Megan Maxwell.
The main problem of this book is that this book surrended to the political correction. We are slaves of the critics, who raised these writers to the secular shrine. I missed more names G.K. Chesterton (in words of Paul Johnson he was expelled of the English writers as the fairies, and Elves, despite being the master of Kafka, Karel Capek, or Borges) i missed Tolkien, I missed Maurice Baring, i missed Robert Hugh Benson, Nancy Mitford, Sheila Kaye Smith, Somerset Maugham the list is incredibly long.
For this reason the literary guides are not infallible. They can help us, but they are not the Holy Bible. We must find a balance between the critics, and the popular taste (because it has not ever the public taste is the best. Our age is the bitter fruit and the evidence that i say it. It is true). The thing is looking for the blessed an aristotlelic middle point. Perhaps for somebody my review might be very hard, but the lecture of Benjamin Dexter/Graham Greene in "The third man" is harder than my review, and the fair anger of the spanish writer Juan Manuel de Prada in his last novel "White blackbird, black swan", where at the beggining of his novel he whips to the authors aclaimed by the critics. They are bored, i fear it.
I want to conclude my review lighting to the 欧宝娱乐 Users, saying something good. I love the references of David Lodge to their novels, and i recomend "Art of fiction" to future writers. However continue trusting in their favorite writers. Nobody speak about Mika Waltari, Louis de Wohl, and Maxence van der Meersch, and i love them. The proffessor of a friend said to her "That we were the fruit of our fantasies".
............................................................................................................................................................................
Lo primero de todo, que debo decir antes de empezar esta cr铆tica es decir, que "El arte de la ficci贸n" de David Lodge. No es un mal libro. Si lo fuera no le habr铆a puesto tres estrellas, sino una estrella, o dos.
Debo reconocer, que David Lodge escribe muy bien, y es un profesor de Teor铆a Literaria muy competente. Los temas, que trata est谩n muy bien escogidos, as铆 como tambi茅n es un acierto la divisi贸n, que ha hecho en 50 cap铆tulos. El libro, est谩 muy bien traducido.
A m铆 modo de ver el problema del libro es que algunos escritores me gustaban los del siglo XIX, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark, Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess. Otros pese a no ser cat贸lico tengo inter茅s por leerles, como Kazuo Ishiguro. Ah铆 tengo en mi estanter铆a muerto de aburrimiento "El gigante enterrado". Otros no me incomodaba leerles como William Golding. El tal贸n de aquiles de Lodge es que muchos de los escritores de David Lodge me producen abierta repulsi贸n. Pienso en Virginia Woolf (la mujer, que acus贸 a Maurice Baring de ser superficial). Es curioso, pero a m铆 es ella la que me parece superficial, y su flujo de la conciencia. No me inspira mucho confianza. James Joyce vale que le he le铆do, y aprob茅 sus "Dublineses" (que son correctitos), pero es que uno de los escritores m谩s sobrevalorados del planeta, y su "Ulises" es un dolor de cabeza leerlo. En algunos casos el libro de Lodge, me ha disuadido de leer a otros escritores que ten铆a en mi estanter铆a pienso en Angela Carter, a la que he apartado de mi estanter铆a, despu茅s de lo que dice Lodge de ella, y de sus compa帽eras Fay Weldon, y Eleonora Cattington. Martin Amis es un escritor, que inspira en m铆 una antipat铆a instintiva. Fowles no ser铆a un mal escritor el problema es que su vida privada me retrae. El argumento de la novela de Macolm Bradbury me repel铆a como un im谩n. Estoy de acuerdo que el arranque de Nabokov es brillante, pero no nos enga帽emos es la historia de una pedrastia, un incesto, y un asesinato. Que voy a decir de D.H. Lawrence, que tuvo la suerte de nacer en Inglaterra si hubiera nacido en una sociedad, que se escandalizase menos del sexo se hubiera muerto de hambre. Lo que le salv贸 fue el puritanismo de la sociedad en la que viv铆a. En Francia hubiera sido un escritor m谩s de literatura pornogr谩fica, y no se le considerar铆a una figura para este tipo de literatura pueden leer a mi amiga Megan Maxwell, que lo hace mejor, que Lawrence.
Ah铆 est谩 el problema del libro, que se ha rendido a la correcci贸n pol铆tica, y ha elevado a los altares a los ad lateres proclamados por los popes y cr铆ticos que han modelado el pensamiento del siglo XX (por desgracia). Se echan de menos nombres, que eran muy populares, aunque hoy no nos digan nada el gran G.K. Chesterton (en palabras de Paul Johnson relegado y expulsado de las universidades brit谩nicas, pese a ser el maestro de Kafka, K. Capek, y Jorge Luis Borges). Ech贸 de menos a J.R.R. Tolkien, ech贸 de menos al valiente Baring. Ech贸 de menos a Robert Hugh Benson. Ech贸 de menos a Nancy Mitford, ech贸 de menos a Sheila Kaye Smith. Ech贸 de menos que se tratase otras novelas de Burgess. Ech贸 de menos a Somerset Maugham, y a tantos otros.
Por eso yo pienso, que las gu铆as literarias pueden ayudarnos, pero no son la Biblia, ni tienen la infalibilidad. Creo, que hay que buscar un equilibrio entre la cr铆tica, y los gustos populares (porque no siempre lo que le gusta al p煤blico es bueno, y prueba de ello es lo que compra actualmente). La cosa est谩 en buscar el bendito, y aristot茅lico punto medio. A Algunos les podr谩 parecer duro mi an谩lisis, pero no menos duro, que la conferencia que BenjaminDexter/GrahamGreene pronunci贸 contra sus contempor谩neos en el "Tercer hombre", ni la justa ira de mi adorado Juan Manuel de Prada en su brillante novela "Mirlo blanco, cisne negro", d贸nde al principio fustiga a los autores consagrados por la cr铆tica actual, y que son aburrid铆simos, me temo.
Con todo quiero finalizar mi cr铆tica insuflando un poco de luz (diciendo algo bueno) me gusta las acotaciones de David Lodge a sus novelas, y recomiendo leer este libro a futuros escritores en ciernes. Con todo sigan confiando en sus escritores predilectos. Ya nadie habla de Mika Waltari, Louis de Wohl, o Maxence van der Meersch, y a m铆 me encantan. Como dir铆a el profesor de una amiga m铆a "somos el fruto de nuestras fantas铆as".
April 10, 2023
Dans les ann茅es, 90, David Lodge, c茅l猫bre romancier britannique, a 茅t茅 mandat茅 pour r茅diger une chronique hebdomadaire sur l'art du roman pour un quotidien. Ce sont ses chroniques qui se trouvent rassembl茅e ici, chacune portant sur un th猫me particulier. Par exemple: le temps, le r茅alisme magique, le flux de conscience, le roman d'anticipation, l'ironie, etc. Si ce recueil apprendra peu de choses nouvelles 脿 qui a d茅j脿 fait ses 茅tudes de lettres, le tout est toutefois une petite mine d'or pour le professeur de lettres ou de cr茅ation. David Lodge 茅tant lui-m锚me enseignant, il explique toujours de fa莽on claire et passionnante un extrait qu'il choisit pour repr茅senter le th猫me du jour. J'imagine ainsi ais茅ment que plusieurs des chapitres pourraient 锚tre un tremplin pour un atelier d'茅criture. Certes, il parle de la prose classique, mais quoi de mieux que de conna卯tre ses classiques avant de vouloir se mettre 脿 茅crire tout de bon?
January 22, 2022
El arte de la ficci贸n es uno de esos libros que todo aspirante a escritor deberia leer. David Lodge utiliza ejemplos practicos de todo el espectro de la literatura inglesa y norteamericana para explicarnos casualmente muchos elementos narrativos, formas de escribir y en definitiva cosas que tenemos que tener en cuenta (o no) a la hora de organizar nuestros escritos.
Es realmente didactico de manera divertida, nunca se siente como uno de esos interminables tochos de teoria literaria que pueden obligarte a leer en algun curso de escritura creativa y solo por eso merece la pena ser leido.
Eso si, cuidado con los spoilers ya que Lodge destripa cada uno de los libros que usa de ejemplo.
Es realmente didactico de manera divertida, nunca se siente como uno de esos interminables tochos de teoria literaria que pueden obligarte a leer en algun curso de escritura creativa y solo por eso merece la pena ser leido.
Eso si, cuidado con los spoilers ya que Lodge destripa cada uno de los libros que usa de ejemplo.
May 20, 2009
This book originated in the early 1990's when David Lodge was invited by the Independent on Sunday to contribute a series of weekly articles in which he chose a literary topic (such as Beginnings, Mystery, A Sense of Place, Allegory or Endings) and illustrated this with one or two short extracts from relatively well-known novels.
The constraint of a short weekly newspaper column has demanded that Lodge restricts his comments and analysis to the most significant elements of the passages that he has chosen.
As Lodge is not only a highly successful novelist in his own right, but also was a lecturer and professor in English Literature at Birmingham University for almost 30 years, you will be hard pressed to find a more knowledgeable, entertaining or lucid guide to accompany you through some of the landmark works of English fiction, regardless of whether you are an aspiring writer or simply wish to understand how literature works.
The constraint of a short weekly newspaper column has demanded that Lodge restricts his comments and analysis to the most significant elements of the passages that he has chosen.
As Lodge is not only a highly successful novelist in his own right, but also was a lecturer and professor in English Literature at Birmingham University for almost 30 years, you will be hard pressed to find a more knowledgeable, entertaining or lucid guide to accompany you through some of the landmark works of English fiction, regardless of whether you are an aspiring writer or simply wish to understand how literature works.
January 16, 2018
This is the book that taught me how to read books. It provides a comprehensive set of critical tools for the everyday reader, and since its examples all tend to make you want to read the books they come from, it also gives you an outstanding syllabus of novels to try them out on. It was a brand-new book when I bought it; now it's dated but still rock-solid. It makes me giddy to think that I could have chosen not to buy it; I think the 25 years since would have gone a lot differently.
July 26, 2020
Notes:
鈥� Short&accessible chapters that stand entirely on their own
鈥� Accessible writing that鈥檚 ideal for short attention spans 鈥� and mines is the shortest of them all
鈥� Can be enjoyed from the perspective of a writer or a reader
鈥� Contains general and widely known info with the occasional nugget that鈥檒l give you a lightbulb moment
鈥� I like to think it'll make me a better writer without, you know, practicing writing like one should
Rating: 3.75 stars
鈥� Short&accessible chapters that stand entirely on their own
鈥� Accessible writing that鈥檚 ideal for short attention spans 鈥� and mines is the shortest of them all
鈥� Can be enjoyed from the perspective of a writer or a reader
鈥� Contains general and widely known info with the occasional nugget that鈥檒l give you a lightbulb moment
鈥� I like to think it'll make me a better writer without, you know, practicing writing like one should
Rating: 3.75 stars
October 26, 2020
賲賳 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 乇賵 胤蹖 丿賵 賲丕賴 賴乇 乇賵夭 亘毓丿 丕夭 丨賲賵賲 鬲賵 賲丿鬲蹖 讴賴 賲賳鬲馗乇 禺卮讴 卮丿賳 亘賵丿賲 禺賵賳丿賲貙 賵 丿賵賲蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘蹖 亘賵丿 讴賴 丕蹖賳 噩賵乇蹖 禺賵賳丿賲 賵 乇賵卮 禺賵亘蹖 亘乇丕蹖 丕爻鬲賮丕丿賴 丕夭 夭賲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 賲乇丿賴鈥屫ж斥€�.
讴鬲丕亘 丿乇亘丕乇賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰� 夭蹖丕丿 賳丿丕乇蹖賲. 丕蹖賳 蹖讴蹖 賴賲 丿乇 鄣郯 賮氐賱 丿蹖丿 讴賱蹖 賵 賲賳丕爻亘蹖 亘賴 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賲蹖鈥屫囏� 丕賲丕 禺蹖賱蹖 爻乇蹖毓 丕夭 賲賵囟賵毓丕鬲 賲蹖鈥屭柏辟� 賵 賳丕讴丕賮蹖賴. 丕賱亘鬲賴 亘乇丕蹖 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 丕賵賱蹖賴 賲賳丕爻亘賴 賵 賲賲讴賳賴 爻賵丕賱丕鬲蹖 丕蹖噩丕丿 讴賳賴 讴賴 賲賳噩乇 亘賴 倬蹖诏蹖乇蹖 賵 禺賵賳丿賳 賲賳丕亘毓 賲乇鬲亘胤 亘丕 丕賵賳 爻賵丕賱鈥屬囏� 亘卮賴. 丿乇 賲噩賲賵毓 讴鬲丕亘 亘丿蹖 賳蹖爻鬲 賵 亘賴 禺賵賳丿賳卮 賲蹖鈥屫ж必操�.
讴鬲丕亘 丿乇亘丕乇賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬嗁堐屫驰� 夭蹖丕丿 賳丿丕乇蹖賲. 丕蹖賳 蹖讴蹖 賴賲 丿乇 鄣郯 賮氐賱 丿蹖丿 讴賱蹖 賵 賲賳丕爻亘蹖 亘賴 禺賵丕賳賳丿賴 賲蹖鈥屫囏� 丕賲丕 禺蹖賱蹖 爻乇蹖毓 丕夭 賲賵囟賵毓丕鬲 賲蹖鈥屭柏辟� 賵 賳丕讴丕賮蹖賴. 丕賱亘鬲賴 亘乇丕蹖 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 丕賵賱蹖賴 賲賳丕爻亘賴 賵 賲賲讴賳賴 爻賵丕賱丕鬲蹖 丕蹖噩丕丿 讴賳賴 讴賴 賲賳噩乇 亘賴 倬蹖诏蹖乇蹖 賵 禺賵賳丿賳 賲賳丕亘毓 賲乇鬲亘胤 亘丕 丕賵賳 爻賵丕賱鈥屬囏� 亘卮賴. 丿乇 賲噩賲賵毓 讴鬲丕亘 亘丿蹖 賳蹖爻鬲 賵 亘賴 禺賵賳丿賳卮 賲蹖鈥屫ж必操�.
August 16, 2017
If you are looking for a book who teaches you the language of literature, the craftwork, so as to improve both your reading and your writing, THIS is the book you want.
Based upon classic novels in the English Language, David Lodge shows you the different tools a writer serves upon to create fiction. I just LOVED it.
Based upon classic novels in the English Language, David Lodge shows you the different tools a writer serves upon to create fiction. I just LOVED it.
January 21, 2018
賰鬲丕亘 賳賯丿賶 賲賴賲 賱賲丨亘賶 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賵噩丕賲毓 卮亘賴 卮丕賲賱 賱丕噩賳丕爻 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賵賱丕毓賱丕賲 丕賱賰鬲丕亘丞 賮賶 賮氐賵賱 賲丨賰賲丞 賲乇賰夭丞 亘爻賷胤丞 鬲毓胤賶 賱賰 丕賱鬲毓乇賷賮 賵丕賱卮乇丨 亘胤乇賷賯丞 賲亘爻胤丞 賷爻鬲胤毓 丨鬲賶 丕賱賯丕乇賶亍 丕賱毓丕丿賶 丕賱丕爻鬲賲鬲丕毓 亘賴 賵亘丕賱丕賲孬賱丞 丕賱賲噩鬲夭卅丞 賲賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 丕賱毓丕賱賲賷丞 賵亘鬲乇噩賲丞 丿賯賷賯丞 賵丕囟丨丞 .
August 12, 2007
Got me through college, man. Eventually I got my dog-eared copy signed by the man himself when he gave a talk at Warwick Uni.
April 24, 2022
This is a remarkably accessible book of literary criticism that illuminates the craft of writing in easily digestible chapters; I don鈥檛 think any chapter was over 6 or 7 pages, and I generally read about four at a time. Overall, reading this reminded me of being in some of my favorite literary analysis classes in university, which is very high praise from me.
I had no idea who Lodge was prior to being given this book, but I quickly grew to enjoy his prose and his insight on literature, told with intelligence and humor, that spans every facet of the novel one can think of; beginnings, endings, structure, names, styles, lists, even (what seems to be now antiquated!) the device of the telephone. He begins each chapter with a passage or two from novels and then discusses why - and more interestingly - how - the author achieves each of the elements he highlights.
What is most impressive to me, perhaps, is that for a book about literature published in 1992, Lodge selects texts from male and female writers. Woolf, the Brontes, Carter, Carrington, Austen, Spark, and Eliot are given equal respect (and close to equal analysis) as Tolstoy, Joyce, Aster, Twain, Nabokov, Orwell, and Hemingway.
But, since this is a text on literary criticism, I don鈥檛 feel it would be an honest review if I failed to mention how flagrantly Lodge omits authors who aren鈥檛 white; Ishiguro and Shange are the only non-caucasian writers I recall him mentioning, and in 1992, neglecting to mention Morrison, Baldwin, Hurston, Walker (whose 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� would have been a far better example to use in the epistolary novel section than the one he selected, not to mention to use in a chapter on the use of dialect), Lorde, and so many others is pretty glaring. This is my only criticism in an otherwise superb collection about the beauty and magic of books.
I had no idea who Lodge was prior to being given this book, but I quickly grew to enjoy his prose and his insight on literature, told with intelligence and humor, that spans every facet of the novel one can think of; beginnings, endings, structure, names, styles, lists, even (what seems to be now antiquated!) the device of the telephone. He begins each chapter with a passage or two from novels and then discusses why - and more interestingly - how - the author achieves each of the elements he highlights.
What is most impressive to me, perhaps, is that for a book about literature published in 1992, Lodge selects texts from male and female writers. Woolf, the Brontes, Carter, Carrington, Austen, Spark, and Eliot are given equal respect (and close to equal analysis) as Tolstoy, Joyce, Aster, Twain, Nabokov, Orwell, and Hemingway.
But, since this is a text on literary criticism, I don鈥檛 feel it would be an honest review if I failed to mention how flagrantly Lodge omits authors who aren鈥檛 white; Ishiguro and Shange are the only non-caucasian writers I recall him mentioning, and in 1992, neglecting to mention Morrison, Baldwin, Hurston, Walker (whose 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� would have been a far better example to use in the epistolary novel section than the one he selected, not to mention to use in a chapter on the use of dialect), Lorde, and so many others is pretty glaring. This is my only criticism in an otherwise superb collection about the beauty and magic of books.
June 21, 2021
Un libro al que siempre habr谩 que volver. Definitivamente un libro de consulta y manoseo. De lenguaje di谩fano, accesible y cercano su autor quien es un reconocido escritor en su pa铆s, sobre todo por un tipo de novela que tiene m谩s 茅xito en el mundo anglosaj贸n que en el castellano, nos invita a una conversaci贸n de literatura, una aproximaci贸n a los tropos que maneja el arte de escribir.
Aunque me gust贸 mucho, falla en el detalle de utilizar solo ejemplo de novelas escritas en ingl茅s. Casi siempre, por no decir siempre el mundo angl贸fono se olvida del mundo hispanoamericano colmado de tantas riquezas.
Un consejo, si quieren leer este libro d茅jenlo para el final despu茅s de leer manuales tan v谩lidos escritos en espa帽ol como los de Cort谩zar o Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez, por solo mencionar algunos.
Aunque me gust贸 mucho, falla en el detalle de utilizar solo ejemplo de novelas escritas en ingl茅s. Casi siempre, por no decir siempre el mundo angl贸fono se olvida del mundo hispanoamericano colmado de tantas riquezas.
Un consejo, si quieren leer este libro d茅jenlo para el final despu茅s de leer manuales tan v谩lidos escritos en espa帽ol como los de Cort谩zar o Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez, por solo mencionar algunos.
May 3, 2019
I've only ever read one of David Lodge's novels - - but I'll be seeking out more, because I really enjoyed this collection of columns on the art and history of the novel. If I can retain all I learned, it will improve both my experience as a reader and my ability as a writer.
June 3, 2022
Pi霉 che un saggio di narratologia 猫 un minuscolo compendio degli aspetti che caratterizzano un testo di narrativa, un libro da leggere a spizzichi, quando serve. Lodge ha uno stile spiccato e diretto che arriva a qualsiasi lettore, le sue analisi sugli estratti romanzeschi sono brevi e coincise, ma questo testo rimane troppo in superfice per chi mastica almeno un po' di critica letteraria. Anzi, 猫 un testo apprezzabile di pi霉 da chi cerca un manualetto di scrittura creativa da consultare.
August 29, 2023
IM FREE!!!!!!! WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE
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