13 Ways of Looking at the Novel
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Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling novelist Jane Smiley celebrates the novel--and takes us on an exhilarating tour through one hundred of them--in this seductive and immensely rewarding literary tribute.In her inimitable style--exuberant, candid, opinionated--Smiley explores the power of the novel, looking at its history and variety, its cultural impact, and just how it works its magic. She invites us behind the scenes of novel-writing, sharing her own habits and spilling the secrets of her craft. And she offers priceless advice to aspiring authors. As she works her way through one hundred novels--from classics such as the thousand-year-old Tale of Genji to recent fiction by Zadie Smith and Alice Munro--she infects us anew with the passion for reading that is the governing spirit of this gift to book lovers everywhere.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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I suspect I will be reading this book for a very long time. It is a long book, but filled with tidbits to think about.
I loved reading this book simply because I felt like I now have the vocabulary and framework to investigate the books I read in a more critical, thoughtful way. Sounds nerdy, but when you love to read, things like that become terribly important. :-)
The annotated list of 101 books the author writes about isn't meant to be a list of the best books or even the best examples of the various aspects of what a novel is meant to communicate. It's a review of novels evolving and becoming important or at least memorable in readers lives and why these novels might be lasting. The synopsis of each book and the discussion of what is striking or salient about the story and/or the author will be a great resource for choosing new books to read.
