Download Free Books How Fiction Works Full Version

How Fiction Works

James Wood

Paperback | Pages: 265 pages

Rating: 3.98 | 5591 Users | 835 Reviews

Identify Containing Books How Fiction Works

Title	:	How Fiction Works
Author	:	James Wood
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 265 pages
Published	:	July 22nd 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published February 7th 2008)
Categories	:	Nonfiction. Language. Writing. Criticism. Literary Criticism. Books About Books. Essays

Commentary As Books How Fiction Works

In the tradition of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fiction--an analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we "know" a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?

James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.

Specify Books In Pursuance Of How Fiction Works

Original Title:	How Fiction Works
ISBN:	0374173400 (ISBN13: 9780374173401)
Edition Language:	English

Rating Containing Books How Fiction Works

Ratings: 3.98 From 5591 Users | 835 Reviews

Commentary Containing Books How Fiction Works

should be called SOME REMARKS ON STYLE. seems supremely uninterested in "how fiction works," at least in the sense of "how a story works" or even "what a story is." in fact story is never discussed at all. character gets short shrift as well. actually there's really nothing discussed in here that might serve as an engine for literary creation. but maybe that's it; it's just not a book for writers. not really sure who it is a book for though. apparently for people who like saul bellow a lot. wish

Some books get all the luck. When a reader is first exposed to a perspective never before seen, or an effort of creation never imagined, that book that triggered this will loom larger, regardless of its merits.Wood's book is the first litcrit book I've ever read; or at least that I can recall (there are plenty of books I read twenty or thirty years ago that would surprise me now).I got lucky, since this is a engagingly written and passionate work of a bibliophile, but what earned it that extra

When I talk about free indirect style I am really talking about point of view, and when I talk about point of view I am really talking about the perception of detail, and when I talk about detail I'm really talking about character, and when I talk about character I am really talking about the real, which is at the bottom of my inquiries. James Wood, How Fiction WorksYou might not agree with everything James Wood has to say about a particular author or work of literature, but you have to admit

I basically underlined this entire book.

I thought this book would be written more with a writerly-slant, but no. More with a readerly-slant, turns out. Still, as a writer wading into novel-writing, you can pick up a thing or two. Up to you, I imagine Wood thinking. He's more about educating readers.The good thing? This is mostly approached in layman's terms. It does not come across as high-falutin', ivory tower, show-off talk (that is, when authors have an audience of fellow professors in mind). The other good thing? Wood uses so many

This is a little book (7 ½ x 5 inches / 248 pages of text) with a lot of personality. JW forgot to add the adjective good to his title: How [good] fiction works should be, because that is what this sort of manual-compendium is all about. It is packed with clever and original insights about what makes (good) fiction. In Narrating JW is an advocate of a free indirect style. In Detail of a careful choice of them (exact palpabilities). In Character presentation, JW favors less than more (very few

How Fiction Works is a fascinating theoretical book that should be read by anyone interesting in literature, linguistics and the foundations underlying creative writing itself. James Wood draws references from many different books and breaks everything down to varying levels of analysis to have a look at what makes fiction fiction.Wood's most interesting aspect of his book is how he breaks everything down into different levels and aspects. What I mean by this is that he has chapters on each