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How Fiction Works Hardcover – 22 July 2008

by James Wood (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 564 ratings
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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.
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  1. Print length
    265 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
  4. Publication date
    22 July 2008
  5. Dimensions
    13.97 x 2.54 x 20.32 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0374173400
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0374173401
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar Straus & Giroux (T) (22 July 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 265 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374173400
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374173401
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.54 x 20.32 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 564 ratings

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James Wood

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Top reviews from Australia

Chris Rowe
3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the amateur or beginner
Reviewed in Australia on 16 March 2015
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At times it felt like I was swimming through a river of mud reading this, but Wood's knowledge of fiction and command of the language is intimidating. The early chapters on free indirect style are incredibly valuable.
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Madpanther
2.0 out of 5 stars Okay.
Reviewed in Australia on 11 August 2020
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He uses to many case studies from book he obviously likes, but he get most of the case studies wrong taking away flawed conclusions. I gave up half way through.
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Anne Connolly
3.0 out of 5 stars This is 3.5 stars
Reviewed in Australia on 18 September 2014
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As helpful as it gets in writing text. He knows what fledgeling writers need to know, he understands the problems faced by all writers. You feel like you have entered a club of writing. I wish I could have given him 3.5
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Leticia McEwen
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
Reviewed in Canada on 15 April 2024
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Excellent
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Mohammad Kaif
5.0 out of 5 stars Cheeers! Loved it!
Reviewed in India on 22 March 2024
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Must read for any novelist, writer, author, critic or reader. That's all.
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Sara Marzullo
4.0 out of 5 stars Imprescindibile (e divertente)
Reviewed in Italy on 6 November 2016
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Il lavoro di James Wood prende in esame la struttura del romanzo - scompone le strutture e le convenzioni con uno stile di un'intelligenza così acuta e brillante da farti leggere una storia della critica come fosse un romanzo.
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Christof Bardolatzy
3.0 out of 5 stars Nicht lesenswert
Reviewed in Germany on 10 January 2016
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Im angelsächsischen Sprachraum ist der Literaturkritiker James Wood eine Berühmtheit. Jedoch bedeutet Ruhm nicht unbedingt Qualität.

In seinem Buch „How Fiction Works“ wendet sich Wood nicht an hochspezialisierte Literaturwissenschaftler, sondern an den allgemeinen Leser, der etwa mehr darüber erfahren möchte, wie Literatur funktioniert. Insofern ist das Buch leicht lesbar und kommt mit wenig technischem Vokabular aus.

Woods Belesenheit ist zwar enorm und umfasst auch Autoren, die nicht aus dem angelsächsischen Raum kommen, aber sein Literaturbegriff ist konventionell.

Wood orientiert sich am Realismus des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts und hat für jüngere Autoren, die mit dessen Konventionen gebrochen haben, nur wenig über. Große Literatur ist für Wood realistisch und welthaltig. Radikale Autoren wie Claude Simon und Michel Butor sowie postmodernistische Erzähler wie Pynchon und Barth werden entweder gar nicht erwähnt oder höchstens angerissen.

Zwar gelingt es Wood, das Auge und das Ohr des Lesers für stilistische Details zu schulen und deckt bei Autoren wie Austen und Flaubert interessante Sachverhalte auf, aber im Großen und Ganzen bleiben seine Überlegungen zur Literatur zu oberflächlich und zu konventionell.
4 people found this helpful
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E. DENIS
5.0 out of 5 stars Un voyage dans la littérature
Reviewed in France on 16 December 2010
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La lecture de ce livre est un véritable plaisir. Elle vous donne envie de plonger dans un grand nombre d'autres livres/auteurs qui sont cités comme des exemples de ci, de ça. Quand je l'ai refermé je me suis rendu dans la librairie la plus proche pour me procurer au plus vite "L'éducation sentimentale" de Flaubert. How Fiction Works n'est pas un mode d'emploi pour écrire mais plutôt une merveilleuse visite guidée dans un musée ou seraient exposées les oeuvres littéraires les plus marquantes. A noter aussi une description très intéressante de la méthode Dostoïevski.
2 people found this helpful
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