sorry about the image quality, it's not exactly the most popular book on Google
Country: U.K
Genre: Essay/Literary Criticism
Pages: 248
A long, long time ago, in an existence far, far away, I wanted to teach literature. The thought of it doesn't make much sense to me now, but I've always been torn apart about how it should really be taught to young minds. Because I think it should be taught in school indeed, but in a way we could compromise between the academic tradition of deconstruction and the simple leisurely reading, so that the benefits of fiction can reach the most people possible. So that it's not "high-brow art" anymore. Fortunately for me, James Wood seems to be thinking the same. He released HOW FICTION WORKS in 2008, to much critical and popular acclaim (as long as you're ready to pick up his book), in an effort to lay down on paper what he had learn about fiction. As simply as possible, using words and ideas easy to relate to. While he doesn't avoid some of the pitfalls of teaching literature, I thought it was an enlightening little book.
Wood announces his intentions from the get go by quoting James Joyce by saying he will cut down on the "scholastic stink" as much as possible. And he does. His approach is far more organized than the one of the random literature teacher as he separates his book in themes, in elements of fiction of you prefer. Some of my favorite points he made regarded what he said about conflict and detail. How what is often brushed aside by reader as a padding device is in fact used by the most clever writer to create atmosphere and conflict in the story. Wood explains how the human brain doesn't necessarily record every detail in a situation, but it's the details it chooses that transforms an image into something interesting. They are most often contrasting images, conflicting detail that makes a character, an environment or a scene stand out. A little girl with army combat boots, a peaceful pier with blood smeared all over. That kind of stuff. Very interesting insight on how the greats writers (he often gives Flaubert in example) breathe life into their stories.
What I thought Wood had in insight at some moments, I found it to be lost at times, by the chaotic nature of HOW FICTION WORKS. Yes, it's more organized than your usual literature class, but it's still disorganized as a whole. It's written in aphorism, small paragraphs who carry a single idea and despite all the aphorisms being all related to the same theme, but have no link of cause and effect in between each other (or very little, some have). It's a bunch of idea thrown around under the same theme. I appreciated the effort, but it was confusing at times. Also, I am questioning the pertinence of some of the stuff he put in there. His historical section seemed out of place with the tone with that he was trying to do here. I understand why he wanted to put them in, to display the evolution of the novel as an art form, but it's more of a 201 class as HOW FICTION WORKS feels like a 101 class the rest of the time.
It's not a total success, but HOW FICTION WORKS is a gigantic leap in the right direction. James Wood shows great tact and clarity into explaining the nature of aesthetics and breaking it into something intelligible for the common folk. It's a courageous book and literature somewhat needed it to be written. I still think that literature has a binding power, an alchemy that can only be felt through the willing participation of readers and HOW FICTION WORKS is a good manual that highlights the strong points of technique and makes readers more aware of the power of good fiction, without having to commit to a nine-hundred pages classic. Part of the power of some aphorism is their concise nature. You give them to read to somebody and they make sense on their own. So how could Wood take it from there and give it a tighter structure? I really don't know, but HOW FICTION WORKS is a book you want to check out if you feel curious about literature and how it affects you.
Wood announces his intentions from the get go by quoting James Joyce by saying he will cut down on the "scholastic stink" as much as possible. And he does. His approach is far more organized than the one of the random literature teacher as he separates his book in themes, in elements of fiction of you prefer. Some of my favorite points he made regarded what he said about conflict and detail. How what is often brushed aside by reader as a padding device is in fact used by the most clever writer to create atmosphere and conflict in the story. Wood explains how the human brain doesn't necessarily record every detail in a situation, but it's the details it chooses that transforms an image into something interesting. They are most often contrasting images, conflicting detail that makes a character, an environment or a scene stand out. A little girl with army combat boots, a peaceful pier with blood smeared all over. That kind of stuff. Very interesting insight on how the greats writers (he often gives Flaubert in example) breathe life into their stories.
What I thought Wood had in insight at some moments, I found it to be lost at times, by the chaotic nature of HOW FICTION WORKS. Yes, it's more organized than your usual literature class, but it's still disorganized as a whole. It's written in aphorism, small paragraphs who carry a single idea and despite all the aphorisms being all related to the same theme, but have no link of cause and effect in between each other (or very little, some have). It's a bunch of idea thrown around under the same theme. I appreciated the effort, but it was confusing at times. Also, I am questioning the pertinence of some of the stuff he put in there. His historical section seemed out of place with the tone with that he was trying to do here. I understand why he wanted to put them in, to display the evolution of the novel as an art form, but it's more of a 201 class as HOW FICTION WORKS feels like a 101 class the rest of the time.
It's not a total success, but HOW FICTION WORKS is a gigantic leap in the right direction. James Wood shows great tact and clarity into explaining the nature of aesthetics and breaking it into something intelligible for the common folk. It's a courageous book and literature somewhat needed it to be written. I still think that literature has a binding power, an alchemy that can only be felt through the willing participation of readers and HOW FICTION WORKS is a good manual that highlights the strong points of technique and makes readers more aware of the power of good fiction, without having to commit to a nine-hundred pages classic. Part of the power of some aphorism is their concise nature. You give them to read to somebody and they make sense on their own. So how could Wood take it from there and give it a tighter structure? I really don't know, but HOW FICTION WORKS is a book you want to check out if you feel curious about literature and how it affects you.