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How Fiction Works
 
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How Fiction Works (Hardcover)

by James Wood (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (7 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0224079832
  • ISBN-13: 978-0224079839
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 182,239 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Irish Times
'the overall spirit and implication of this book are as important as its direct statements'


Scotland on Sunday
`this compelling essay shows just how deeply, sensitively, imaginatively and joyfully he reads'

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Our Strangest Critic, 25 Feb 2008
By Sam Allenby (Toulouse, France) - See all my reviews
  
This book comes with a quote from the New York Review of Books on the cover that describes Wood as 'the strongest...literary critic we have'. The missing words are 'and strangest'. I wonder why they chose to omit those words? And what does it mean to be a strong literary critic? That you can read War and Peace while holding it between your thumb and little finger? Having said that, this a gem of a book, although perhaps it should be called How to Read rather than How Fiction Works because there is very little examination of either characterisation or narrative. Instead there are many examples from writers such as Henry James, DH Lawrence, Virginia Woolf and Henry Green with critiques so perceptive that you feel inspired to return to their works. Wood's taste is at once austere and baroque: he wants the novel to do good, but to be stylish and new at the same time. And at least he doesn't recommend the work of Lawrence Durrell!
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Smart and uncluttered, 5 April 2008
Really enjoyed reading Wood on how fiction works. In a discipline rife with the verbose, the convoluted and the pompous, his plain clarity of thought is refreshing.
He's also unafraid to nail his colours to the mast and point at examples of very bad style from very established writers (Updike etc).
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly exhilirating read, 19 Feb 2009
By R. Ahmed "Razel" (Avalon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: How Fiction Works (Paperback)
Don't take heed of the other reviews, this is a truly brilliant book. Part-literary criticism, part advice on how to write a novel, and part poetry. Wood's is a critic who writes like a superb poet-novelist and everything he has to say is pertinent to every would be critic and/or would be novelist. The book isn't just an account of how novels work, but how they can work better.

There are some truly awe-inspiring passages in this book, I had to put it down few times just to savour the writing and the ideas.

Don't just take my word for it, read the opening few pages. You'll be impressed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Examining greatness in a literary world
An engrossing examination of the writers art, and a must read for anyone with a love of books and writing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jeremy Persaud

2.0 out of 5 stars Great concept poor execution
To be honest this was something as an avid reader and an amateur writer that I really was looking forward to. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Gareth Wilson

3.0 out of 5 stars How fiction works - James Wood
How Fiction Works James Wood
Jonathan Cape, London

I have no previous knowledge of Wood and very little of the works he quotes in illustrating his points. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Error Found

3.0 out of 5 stars How Fiction Used to Work
I come to James Wood's work of literary criticism with a keen interest in literature and an open mind. I must say that I was not overly impressed. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Paul D

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