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Oxford University Press How Novels Work by John Mullan
Never has contemporary fiction been more widely discussed and passionately analysed; recent years have seen a huge growth in the number of reading groups and in the interest of a non-academic readership in the discussion of how novels work. Drawing on his weekly Guardian column, Elements of Fiction, John Mullan examines novels mostly of the last ten years, many of which have become firm favourites with reading groups. He reveals the rich resources ofnovelistic technique, setting recent fiction alongside classics of the past. Nick Hornbys adoption of a female narrator is compared to Daniel Defoes; Ian McEwans use of weather is set against Austens and Hardys; Carole Shields chapter divisions are likened to Fanny Burneys. Each section shows how some basicelement of fiction is used. Some topics like plot, dialogue, or location will appear familiar to most novel readers; others metanarrative, prolepsis, amplification will open readers eyes to new ways of understanding and appreciating the writers craft.How Novels Work explains how the pleasures of novel reading often come from the formal ingenuity of the novelist. It is an entertaining and stimulating exploration of that ingenuity. Addressed to anyone who is interested in the close reading of fiction, it makes visible techniques and effects we are often only half-aware of as we read. It shows that literary criticism is something that all fiction enthusiasts can do.Contemporary novels discussed include: Monica Alis Brick Lane; Martin Amiss Money; Margaret Atwoods The Blind Assassin; A.S. Byatts Possession; Jonathan Coes The Rotters Club; J.M. Coetzees Disgrace; Michael Cunninghams The Hours; Don DeLillos Underworld; Michel Fabers The Crimson Petal and the White; Ian Flemings From Russia with Love; Jonathan Franzens The Corrections; Mark HaddonsThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; Patricia Highsmiths Ripley under Ground; Alan Hollinghursts The Spell; Nick Hornbys How to Be Good; Ian McEwans Atonement; John le Carres The Constant Gardener; Andrea Levys Small Island; David Mitchells Cloud Atlas; Andrew OHagans Personality; Orhan Pamuks My Name Is Red; Ann Patchetts Bel Canto; Ruth Rendells Adam and Eveand PinchMe; Philip Roths The Human Stain; Jonathan Safran Foers Everything Is Illuminated; Carol Shieldss Unless; Zadie Smiths White Teeth; Muriel Sparks Aiding and Abetting; Graham Swifts Last Orders; Donna Tartts The Secret History; William Trevors The Hill Bachelors; and Richard Yatess Revolutionary Roadshow more