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13 Ways of Looking at the Novel [Paperback]

Jane Smiley
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 12, 2006
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.

Frequently Bought Together

13 Ways of Looking at the Novel + Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form + Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (P.S.)
Price for all three: $38.34

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Engaging. . . . Down-to-earth. . . . Smiley’s unmediated voice–blunt, uncompromising and witty–rings from every page. . . . She inspires wicked delight.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A massive victory. . . . Awfully smart. . . . Always a pleasure.” –The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Provocative. . . . Wise and humane. . . . It reminds readers of the novel why they love their avocation. . . . I most heartily recommend it.” –Marjorie Kehe, The Christian Science Monitor

“Thorough, insightful. . . . Sure to inspire delicious debate and excite interest in undiscovered works. . . . Her critiques are shrewd, artful and unflinching. . . . Thirteen Ways continues to whisper its profundities long after the last page is turned.” –Rocky Mountain News

About the Author

Jane Smiley is the Pulitzer Prize—winning author of more than ten novels as well as four works of nonfiction, including a critically acclaimed biography of Charles Dickens. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Thousand Acres, and in 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in northern California.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor (September 12, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400033187
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400033188
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but idiosyncratic June 11, 2009
Format:Paperback
In assigning three stars to this book I may be misleading the reader. For those attuned to Jane Smiley's sensibility, this will be a five-star book; for those who are not it will be a one-star book. This is not a study of the novel as form so much as it is what the title infers--ways of looking at the novel. As such it is more personal (some would say idiosyncratic) and, as inferred above, of varying degrees of usefulness.

The book actually attempts to do several things at once: a) explore key aspects of novelistic fiction; b) offer advice on the writing of novelistic fiction; c) record personal experience with regard to the writing of specific novelistic fiction; and d) discuss 100 novels. It is thus, by turns, a scholarly book, a how-to book and a reference book.

The discussions of novelistic fiction are interesting. They are particularly interesting because they are out of the critical mainstream. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since previous scholarship canalizes discussion and, in its way, narrows the imagination. Jane Smiley's reflections, e.g., on the origins of the novel are, as a result, quite different from those of Watt, McKeon, Hunter, Doody, et al. who tell a very different story than the story told here. Most scholars will find Smiley's comments naďve and uninformed though not uninteresting and not without their uses.

The how-to sections of the book are also interesting, though they are not as systematic as one would expect in a how-to book. Aspiring novelists will enjoy Smiley's anecdotes, her encouragement and her wisdom. Nevertheless, they are still likely to need a more consciously hands-on book like Scott Meredith's.

The discussions of the 100 novels are unsystematic. They consist of reflections, not discrete, consistent bodies of information. Thus they make for an engaging `read' but they do not serve the purposes that reference books serve. The remarks are somewhat idiosyncratic and, hence, potentially valuable. At other times they are remarkably naďve. Two small examples: Smiley does not have a developed sense of genre. Thus, she discusses Wuthering Heights and Moby-Dick as novels rather than (as many would) romances. This is fairly basic stuff to the professoriate, Frye 101 if you will. "Tales" are different from "short stories," for example, and lumping the two together leads to problematic conclusions. Second, Smiley has strong views which she does not hesitate to inject into her book. Strong views are fine, but they prove problematic when they distort discourse. In her discussion of Conrad, e.g., she attributes the attitudes of Conrad's narrator to Conrad himself. In the case in question we are not talking about an implied narrator, but a very carefully constructed, independent narrator, one who appears in other works of Conrad, a narrator Conrad discusses and describes as an independent creation. Confusing a narrator's experiences and views with those of the author is a very basic error, the sort of thing that one learns in English 101. I can only assume that she has been blinded by her personal views and that this is a momentary lapse.

Bottom line: never dull, often insightful, but not for all tastes and not for readers with specific needs seeking specific information.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read mostly non-fiction and view novels as overly descriptive pieces for people who believe in storytelling as an Art with a capital A. After reading over 100 pages of this book I realize I've been sitting on a high horse of my own. My opinion of the novel was narrow and simplistic. Smiley makes a place for every sort of novel and author at her table, without negative judgment, and it makes for interesting talk. Her ideas are lively and interesting. She really opened my eyes and could have easily titled the book "Infinite Ways of Looking At the Novel". This book is going to get me back to reading more novels. I never expected to have that reaction to this book. Indeed, I probably started it looking to bolster my low opinion of novelists.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Some might enjoy only half of this book April 12, 2007
Format:Paperback
The first half of the book is a philosophical/intellectual discussion of different aspects of a novel (point of view, plot, story type, etc) along with some historical consideration of how the "novel" format has developed over time. Smiley seems to get off-track in parts of this section, and I found myself getting bored from time to time as she expounded too much on a chapter's thesis.

The second half of the book is really awesome. A compendium of 101 novels, with a 1-3 page synopsis of why the novel is important. It's a nice reference for choosing a "great" book to read without resorting to a high school curriculum list. Beware, Smiley goes into detail about plot, so there are spoilers in her descriptions of the novels.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars I like the book, hate it in Kindle format
I like this book. Smiley is a clear and informative writer; I like her style. That said, I'm going to have to order this book in hard copy because trying to read it on my Nexus... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Mary
2.0 out of 5 stars Wasn't Helpful
I was really looking forward to reading this book as it was recommended by Ms. Weiland (and I LOVED her book on outlining your novel). But it wasn't for me. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Addicted to Reading
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful affirmation of the novel and novel reading
There were times I got bogged down, but I found this work to be a wonderful affirmation of the novel and novel reading; it crystallized ideas I already had as well as providing... Read more
Published 14 months ago by algo41
3.0 out of 5 stars Scattered thoughts of an author in search of her muse? Buy it anyway?
My sense is that this book is best suited to precisely no one. The literary elite can find much more sophisticated and scholarly analyses of what a novel is. Read more
Published on March 9, 2009 by Quickhappy
4.0 out of 5 stars Thirteen plus ways to look at a novel
"13 Ways of Looking at the Novel" by Jane Smiley was very informative to me as an avid reader. It provided in-depth information on how to read a novel more closely, in addition to... Read more
Published on February 15, 2008 by LATH
4.0 out of 5 stars The beauty of inflections or the beauty of innuendoes
Very interesting. Smiley has refreshing opinions on how novels are written and how they achieve their effects -- such as the relative entertainment value of the first-person... Read more
Published on September 24, 2007 by Susan W
4.0 out of 5 stars On the contrary
Contrary to the opinion expressed by the previous reviewer, I found the first section of the book, a detailed and personable analysis of the structure and development of the novel... Read more
Published on April 28, 2007 by Tommy Barban
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