The Novel: U.S. Edition [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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It is very likely that, within the prolific progress of his production as an historical novelist, Mr. Michener received hoards of letters from writers who had spent a few years bruising foreheads on publishers' warded doors, then wised-up and tip-toed around to the alley looking for an in through an established author.

THE NOVEL is a response to this and much more ("this" being the situation of budding authors wanting to know how a manuscript gets published after it has been finished with the flair of an expert, the final period identified by typing "-30-" instead of "The End"). A telling book about the gestalt of publishing, focusing on the midwife process of book-length-fiction, THE NOVEL releases the secrets of its journey from conception to The New York Times Best Seller List

Intriguingly, THE NOVEL is significantly shorter than Michener's other novels, and it's written in a somewhat experimental storytelling technique. In Michener's other novels he uses honorable, tried-and-true techniques, those of a master novelist (actually he glorifies these established techniques with his brilliantly polished craft). Yet, in THE NOVEL, an anomaly in his fiction collection, Michener experiments outside-the-box of age-old, proven techniques, bursting forth with an offering which I could rave through fogged Rose Tints.

In this toe-in-the-water literary experiment, Michener separates his narrative into four illuminating Parts, each written from the unique, First-Person-Narrative points-of-view of The Writer, then of The Editor, then of The Critic, and then of The Reader. As far as I know, in his other works of fiction Michener plots and composes from a by-the-book-of-narration point-of-view, i.e., pick only ONE and do it precisely and perfectly:

Either use Omniscient Observer; OR First Person Narrative; or Third Person Observer, etc.

Valid reasons have supported the rigid rule in narrative craft into a long life; the rule says, "Pick your Person (poison?), or Narrative Point-of-View, and STICK with it. Then tell the story from A to Z."

Switching Narrative style has been a firm "No No"; once The Novel had established Lukas Yoder in First Person, the whole book would have been written from that point-of-view, i.e., "I am Lukas Yoder and I got up this morning at 5 am feeling ... Here's how I see my editor, critic, and reader ..."

Too many experimental works of fiction, as I believe Michener exposes well in THE NOVEL, gleefully toss out all the rules and write a piece-of-work so incomprehensible, so unidentifiable, so "out there" as to be impossible to READ, let alone enjoy or, heaven forbid, escape into and live vicariously with well drawn characters who follow the rules of story-living.

Michener breaks the narrative rules just enough in THE NOVEL to have produced a refreshingly delightful, yet poignant and powerful literary work. Michener's other novels have evidenced him as a great traditional novelist who's established a noteworthy niche in the historical genre. In THE NOVEL, he's delivered a literary presentation equal to the term (which, unfortunately, often brands any work of fiction with the stigma of being boring or depressing). Yet, THE NOVEL is far from dull or depleting; it provides a rich reading experience, alive with Pennsylvania Dutch ambiance bridged into the glitzy world of NYC publishing.

Each of the Four parts of THE NOVEL work so well that the dramatic-display-of-differences among each of the four is clarified through a glass brightly; the nuances of each part are painted in oil-color, brilliant-contrast as they neatly emerge among antithetical ambiances of Writer, Editor, Critic, and Reader. When they're read sequentially within the bindings of this novel, these four unique gestalts interweave warmly, coalescing into a portrait of the dynamic dichotomy of the world of, in, and around the living force of the Novel.

Thank you Mr. Michener.

I have the greatest admiration for one who has first mastered craft, then toyed with It tastefully, teasing the reader away from immediate reality, then retaining the best traditional glue to hold a reader enthralled within a literarily linguistic work of fiction.

In an E-mail sent 9/4/05 to Tamar Myers (author of exquisite PenDutch mystery series featuring Magdalena Yoder) I wrote:

>> Don't know if you've read JA Michener's THE NOVEL, but I recommend it very, very highly. In a sense it might be one of the most important and most deeply entertaining novel ever written. It doesn't say as much as ATLAS SHRUGGED (or maybe it does), but it has something special I haven't quite put into words yet. Strangely, I've not been able to read another of his novels; they're just too detailed for me, but THE NOVEL is absolutely just right. <<

I plan to read more of Michener's novels, as my reading maturity and need for history ripen, so that the amount of incredibly valuable detail in Michener's novels becomes exactly what I'm craving and will become addicted to.

When you finish Michner's THE NOVEL, which seethes with the best of PenDutch ambiance, if you're like me, you will likely want to spend more time there. Luckily, you can take care of the craving by ordering a few of Tamar Myers's novels.

(Feel free to check my Listmania on the US Amazon site for short blurbs on each book in that series, and please check my reviews noted in that list, for in-depth analyses of the Magda Mystique. Note that in that Listmania a bonus is included of Barbara Workinger's Amish series, another winner set in Lancaster County, see my reviews for details.)

In any of Tamar's Magdalena Yoder series you'll be able to wallow in that richly homey feel of the Pennsylvania Dutch lifestyle. Not only that, you'll be reading one of the richest minds able to turn cultural sets into hilarious dichotomies exposing the conflicts between comfort/control and luxury/overwhelm, and blasting stereotypes into deteriorating ozone, never to return.

Linda G. Shelnutt

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