How Novels Work
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Review
It strikes me that none of our readers can afford to be without this book! I'm an admirer of John Mullan's 'Guardian' columns, and this is definitely something that we should be reviewing. (Edward Fenton. 'The Oxford Writer )
A brilliant crash course in contemporary fiction (Waterstones Books Quarterly )
A brilliant crash course in contemporary fiction (Waterstones Books Quarterly )
The Financial Times, February 17, 2007
Ever insightful critiques...wholly satisfying, and a great
education for book-lovers and would-be novelists alike. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
education for book-lovers and would-be novelists alike. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE Novel, that most accessible, democratic of literary forms, must establish its contract with its reader. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE Novel, that most accessible, democratic of literary forms, must establish its contract with its reader. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Amidst the dozens if not hundreds of 'books about books' or literary theory I found Mullan's work a very refreshing read. True enough, it shows that it is based on Mullan's weekly articles for The Guardian and was not from the very beginning conceived of and planned as a book as such, but that doesn't detract from the informed and insightful way Mullan treats his subject matter. On the contrary, I found it all the more easy to read and - if need be - lay aside for a while to resume reading some days or weeks later, as all the pieces are 'bite-sized'.
In a little over 80 articles, as diverse as 'the anti-hero', 'weather', 'plot' or 'intertextuality', Mullan treats the following subjects:
- Beginning
- Narrating
- People
- Genre
- Voices
- Structure
- Detail
- Style
- Devices
- Literariness
- Ending
By no means will you find in this book an exhaustive treatment of the above-subjects, but all in all this still is a very good book to give you a good enough grasp of 'how novels work' to read them with all the more pleasure afterwards.
In a little over 80 articles, as diverse as 'the anti-hero', 'weather', 'plot' or 'intertextuality', Mullan treats the following subjects:
- Beginning
- Narrating
- People
- Genre
- Voices
- Structure
- Detail
- Style
- Devices
- Literariness
- Ending
By no means will you find in this book an exhaustive treatment of the above-subjects, but all in all this still is a very good book to give you a good enough grasp of 'how novels work' to read them with all the more pleasure afterwards.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is aimed directly at the interested reader as opposed to the scholar and works better for it. Of course, some will want deeper links to literary theory and a gretaer range of discussion but if, like so many, you read novels for pleasure as opposed to study and simply wish to know a little more as to how writers create the effects and emotions they do, then this is the book for you.
John Mullan does a superb job of guiding you through certain techniques used by writers to present their stories. Any complex theories are alluded to in clear, understandable language. For some this may dilute the quality but again, this book is aimed at the more 'general reader' who is perhaps less interested in the complexities of the theory itself and more interested in why the novels they read work as they do.
I would recommend this to any reader of fiction who is perplexed at how writers are able to move us as they do.
John Mullan does a superb job of guiding you through certain techniques used by writers to present their stories. Any complex theories are alluded to in clear, understandable language. For some this may dilute the quality but again, this book is aimed at the more 'general reader' who is perhaps less interested in the complexities of the theory itself and more interested in why the novels they read work as they do.
I would recommend this to any reader of fiction who is perplexed at how writers are able to move us as they do.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
John Mullan wrote a weekly column for 'The Guardian' newspaper called 'Elements of Fiction'. In the column, Professor Mullan looked at novels of the recent past, many of which had become favourites of reading groups, such as 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan and 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Atwood. This book draws on that weekly column to provide a detailed examination of the novelist's craft. It looks in turn at each aspect of the novel, starting with titles and ending in epilogues and postscripts. As well as contemporary fiction, Professor Mullan also uses examples from the classics of English literature, such as the use of recollection in Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' and Jane Austen's use of free indirect style in 'Emma'. This books gets quite technical at times, but although Professor Mullan does employ terms like 'heteroglossia', he also provides lucid explanations within the text rather than having the reader refer to a glossary at the end of the book. 'Heteroglossia', if you were wondering, refers to a method of story telling with many different narrative voices, as in James Joyce's 'Ulysses', as opposed to the unified narrator's voice of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Insightful Reference
This is a fascinating insight into the mechanics of novels. Based on John Mullan's articles in the Guardian it looks at a wide range of, predominantly, contemporary fiction. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Calypso
Watery
After reading the flavoursome How Fiction Works by James Woods, I thought I would be in for another good meal of learning about the recipes of the masters. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Helps
The inner workings of a novel
Anyone who simply wants to skim the surface of 'novels' and who is not at all interested in the process and mechanics of how a writer produces what they (the reader)is reading,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by R Howey
enlightening book
I wish I had read this book years ago ,a must for book group readers.
How refreshing to be able to read and immediately understand an academic book,this is a book that gets... Read more
How refreshing to be able to read and immediately understand an academic book,this is a book that gets... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jennifer Davis
Interesting.
Not quite what I wanted from the book, but still a fascinating and clear guide to how writers write novels!
Published on 27 May 2010 by Scampo
A book about how novels work that doesn't
In his introduction John Mullan makes the important point that "space for quotation is one of the necessary privileges of criticism" and promises "to show how a critical vocabulary... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2008 by Sphex
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