How Fiction Works
What makes a story a story? What is style? What?s the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely?from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings?Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. The result is nothing less than a philosophy of the novel?plainspoken, funny, blunt?in the traditions of E. M. Forster?s Aspects of the Novel and Strunk and White?s The Elements of Style. It sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision. It will change the way you read.
Amazon Best of the Month, July 2008: The first thing you'll notice about How Fiction Works is its size. At 252 pages, it's a marvel of economy for a book that asks such a huge question and right away you'll want to know (as you might at the start of a new novel) what the author has in store. James Wood takes only his own bookshelves as his literary terrain for this study, and that in itself is the most delightful gift: he joins his audience as a reader, citing his chosen texts judiciously--ranging from Henry James (from whom he takes the best epigraph to a book I've ever read) to Nabokov, Joyce, Updike, and more--to explore not just how fiction works, mechanically speaking, but to reflect on how a novelist's choices make us feel that a novel ultimately works ... or doesn't. Wood remarks that you have to "read enough literature to be taught by it how to read it." His terrific bibliography will surely be a boon to anyone's education, but it's his masterful writing that you'll want to keep reading over the course of your life. --Anne Bartholomew
How Fiction Works Accessories
 The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief (Modern Library Paperbacks)
Netherland: A Novel
Indignation
Home: A Novel
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)
The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel
Nothing to Be Frightened Of
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
2666: A Novel
The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
How Fiction Works Reviews
There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but when coupled with what appears to be a blanket dislike for almost everything even remotely postmodern, one begins to feel that Wood might be a helpful guide only for a certain subclass of fiction. Refreshingly, the ratio of positive to negative examples is high, so that we are treated to eloquence inspired by enthusiasm, rather than critical disregard, for the most part. Although I didn't find Wood's style overtly pompous, there is an inescapable sense that one is reading dispatches from what Walter Kirn, in his wicked New York Times review, refers to as "someone who has attained the detached, big-picture perspective of an orbiting critical satellite". In the introduction, Wood promises to be "mindful of the common reader" and to try to "reduce. David Foster Wallace, for example, gets dissed several times throughout the book, with little recognition of his considerable talent and influence.
For a middlebrow reader like me, this book is likely to be helpful. Wood displays an enthusiasm for Flaubert (and, to a lesser extent, Henry James) that borders on burbling adulation. His insights on Chekhov, Joyce, Nabokov (to name just a few) prompt me to go back and (re)read the work in question. On balance, though, I very much enjoyed the book. Wood's enthusiasm for reading is evident throughout, and is infectious. The strongest aspect of the book are the many specific examples that Wood provides of what works and doesn't work in fiction.
In other words, a slightly offputting air of detached omniscience - that one is reading tablets handed down from the mountain. the scholastic stink to bearable levels". A perfectly valid, and thoroughly amusing, view to the contrary is contained in Walter Kirn's New York Times review at the link below. Of the 90 or so works referred to in the book, only 20 date from 1965 or later; 21st century fiction is clearly not where Wood's primary interest lies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Kirn-t.html He does a commendable job of keeping his promise. It's short, and very readable. Points in this book's favor -.
On the other hand:. Wood's discussion of such topics as narrative voice, effective characterization, use of detail, convincing dialog, and "realism" is generally clear and thought-provoking.
It does not, in any way, come close to the beauty and simplistic complexity of Forster's 'Aspects of the Novel.' (I realize that 'Aspects' was a series of lectures and 'How Fiction' is a book, but that should change very little. It was over-written and self-indulgent (a sign of which is surely the acclaim by the so-called literary community). Although my arms were full, I put down what I had and picked up 'How Fiction Works' and gave it a try. It appears that this book was written for the sole purpose of being written. I first discovered this book while perusing the the lit-crit section of the local book store. Again, nothing.
Overwrought and confusing, 'How Fiction.' is successful only in that alienates itself from the reading public and certainly does not belong in the same discussion with 'Aspects of the Novel.'. A few weeks later, I was back at the bookstore and decided to give it another try. Two Stars. This book is extremely impossible to grasp. Perhaps, I thought, it was because of my already-busy day, or the fact that I already had several books that I was more interested in reading.
Yesterday it was more of the same. Nothing about this book 'popped' for me. A few moments later, I put the book down. But I couldn't get into this book.
James Wood is one of the clearest, and most insightful of contemporary literature critics. But nevertheless he is more than balanced in assessing the various perspectives on voice, detail, and character. This little volume is an extraordinary little to guide to creative writing from an obviously well read author. This is a truly intelligent and well written literary guide. He often emphasizes the importance of the inner tension between the voice of the author and the voice of the character, and assesses various authors in their successes (Joyce), and failures (Updike) with this perennial question. Wood privileges the modern realism of Flaubert and Tolstoy over more avant-garde approaches to literature.
Breathtaking exposition on the development of the novel over the last few centuries, in particular the "realist" style.
Bracing, memorable writing.
Brilliant non-fiction gem about fiction.
The design of the book is particularly invitingits modest weight, friendly typeface, and wide margins make this book a pleasant evening companiona book you aren't afraid to ask out on a second date.
Opinionated rather than encyclopedic, but a great touchstone for further reading.
If, like me, you are a writer of non-fiction, this book is a model.
If, on the other hand, you want cheerleading or technical tips for writing a novelif you want reinforcement of your personal idea of what's Good in fictionthis book may not be right for you.
If you want to add another dimension to your appreciation of the novel, this gorgeously edited book is ideal.
I plan to re-read it once or twice if I ever get it back.
Wood talks about the author's aesthetic distance, and wonders if such a thing is even possible, because all the voices of narration are ultimately the author's voice, and all characters are ultimately aspects of the author as well. He devotes some pages to characters that are either flat, caricatures, or rounded and full. He cites many writers to illustrate, which I enjoy.I haven't finished the book, but I would recommend it to anyone who loves fiction and wants a deeper understanding of the elements that make it either work or not. I am enjoying this book, but am not enough of a scholar to give a serious or creditable evaluation.
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