How Fiction Works
by James Wood
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Book Reviews of How Fiction Works
Book Review: An argument about the elements of fiction
Summary: 4 Stars
So some reviewers think Wood's book is too basic, while others think it's only for those with graduate degrees in Literature. I think it's right in between. (I wasn't an English major in college, but read a fair amount of "literary" fiction.)
The book gets off to a terrific start with the author's discussion of Free Indirect Style of narration. I wish received this instruction back in high school. The rest of the book never soars quite so high. It is true that Wood has his own opinions about how literature should be, but that's fine. Unlike Wood, I personally like David Foster Wallace. Unlike Wood, I think plot matters (Wood seems embarrassed that novels even have plots). But better for a critic to bring his own point of view than to antiseptically argue all sides. I do think people are over-sensitive about these things. The value of How Fiction Works is in helping us think about the elements of fiction by considering Wood's arguments. In that respect, the book succeeds.
Book Review: Brilliant little book
Summary: 5 Stars
Breathtaking exposition on the development of the novel over the last few centuries, in particular the "realist" style. Brilliant non-fiction gem about fiction. Opinionated rather than encyclopedic, but a great touchstone for further reading.
The design of the book is particularly inviting--its modest weight, friendly typeface, and wide margins make this book a pleasant evening companion--a book you aren't afraid to ask out on a second date. I plan to re-read it once or twice if I ever get it back.
Bracing, memorable writing. If you want to add another dimension to your appreciation of the novel, this gorgeously edited book is ideal. 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 novel--if you want reinforcement of your personal idea of what's Good in fiction--this book may not be right for you.
Book Review: A terrific reference --
Summary: 3 Stars
If you write, let's hope you do massive amounts of reading good literature. If you are a reader of substance, James Woods' book will edify your intellectual and emotional connection to what you have already learned, albiet subconsciously. All the devices are there, the silliness, the overworked metaphors, the sly styles, the magic. He is obviously a fan of Flaubert at whose feet Woods lays much credit for today's (good) writing. In fact, it's nearly an homage. So many great books are referenced, referred to, excerpted -- it makes you want to go back and re-read them all in order to see the work with a clearer vision. What we enjoyed as plain old storytelling, Woods shows us is hardly random and not without great intellectual and artistic effort. Woods compares great writers (old and new) to each other showing us flaws and greatness in each of them.
Highly recommended for readers and writers.
Book Review: big ideas, cramped library?
Summary: 3 Stars
Beautiful writing and sharp insights throughout. The Wood Channel could do for literature what ESPN did for sports if Wood would sacrifice a bit his devotion to The Canon. This turns out to be the conceit of selecting books only from his library. Its admission standards start to feel claustrophobic after a while. Flaubert and H. James admirers will find endless refreshment from these pages. If you hated Madame Bovary and couldn't lift up Dostoevsky long enough to get from Raskolnikov's crime to his punishment, you will find yourself searching in vain for a wider selection of stories, authors, and techniques. Wood turns messy received literary tradition into fresh, exciting, and understandable language. He's the Constance Garnett for the rest of us. But his inattention to more unorthodox fictional workings might leave some literary X Games enthusiasts hungry for more.Book Review: Wood Wind
Summary: 2 Stars
Wood's appropriate put-down of Updike is balanced by his questionable praise of Roth, which is, I think, unduly concerted. His vast collection of books is ready at hand, but he appears to neglect it often. I shall offer just a few examples. II Samuel 11.2 has Bathsheba bathing in the evening (at most, late afternoon); Wood has her "sunning herself." His "a ship...unnoticing" is either a pathetic fallacy or a mistransferred epithet. Why not say "a ship, its crew not noticing"? Especially bothersome is this passage: "...what James in 'What Maisie Knew' calls 'the firm ground of fiction, through which indeed there curled the blue river of truth.'" This is followed by "that blue river of truth, curling somewhere." James wrote "flowed," not "curled." Wood, elsewhere an astute critic of postmodernist excesses, is, in this short volume needlessly rushed and suprisingly careless.