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How Fiction Works

James Wood

3.99/5 (5510 ratings)

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In the tradition of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fiction--an analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we "know" a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?

James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.

Format:: Paperback

Pages:: 265 pages

Publication:: 2009

Publisher:: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Edition:: 1st, First Edition

Language:: eng

ISBN10:: 0374173400

ISBN13:: 9780374173401

kindle Asin:: B004S6VT84

How Fiction Works

James Wood

3.99/5 (5510 ratings)

Read Download

In the tradition of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fiction--an analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we "know" a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?

James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.

Format:: Paperback

Pages:: 265 pages

Publication:: 2009

Publisher:: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Edition:: 1st, First Edition

Language:: eng

ISBN10:: 0374173400

ISBN13:: 9780374173401

kindle Asin:: B004S6VT84

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