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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For Academics, Readers, and Writers, November 12, 2005
This review is from: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel (Hardcover)
Acclaimed novelist Jane Smiley has written a loving, intelligent analysis of the form, function, and reading experience of the novel that will appeal to teachers, readers, and writers. She examines aspects of the novel from different perspectives and illustrates her points with examples, from Alcott's Little Women to Munro's Lives of Girls and Women, from Proust's In Search of Lost Time to Mitford's The Pursuit of Love, from Richardson's Pamela to Nabokov's Lolita, from Austen's Persuasion to McEwan's Atonement, from Thackeray's Vanity Fair to Egan's Look at Me-- a hundred novels in all.
Smiley begins her 568 page elegy begin with the basics: What is a Novel? Who is a Novelist? These seemingly simple questions receive intricate answers, as Smiley delves into theories put forth by writers such as Virginia Woolf and Henry James, and into the works of fiction themselves. Academics and students of literature will find themselves engrossed in the author's meaty discussions of the history of the novel, its psychology, its use of morality, its role as a historical document, and the art of it. Perhaps the most accessible chapters, however, are also the most personal. Smiley addresses the reader as though a writing peer in her two chapters, "A Novel of Your Own I" and "A Novel of Your Own II," 45 pages of writing advice and conversation. Even more intimate is her revealing look into the writing of her novel Good Faith. In this chapter, she gives the reader a rare glimpse into the creative process.
Avid readers will be especially delighted by Smiley's "mini-essay(s)" of the hundred novels she selected as a reading exercise, which she uses as her conclusion. She states that these novels are meant to be representative, not comprehensive, since it is impossible to construct a top 100 list without omitting fine literary works. Readers who, say, were put off by the academic nature of A.S. Byatt's Possession, or by the unlikable characters of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, or by the comic distance created by Zadie Smith in White Teeth will find new reasons to appreciate those works, and all the others included here.
13 Ways of Looking at the Novel is not an easy read since Smiley approaches her topic not only as a writer but as an intellectual. Her analysis is both sensible and brilliant--a delight for serious readers and students. -- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
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88 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Course in Mindful Escape, September 23, 2005
This review is from: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel (Hardcover)
Today I had the privilege of hearing an author I greatly admire, Jane Smiley, read excerpts from her book as well as wonderful asides about her experiences teaching, being a scholar, and writing. She is such a hoot, and as entertaining to hear live as to read. She reminded us of how the novel has evolved through the ages and how well written novels can encourage us to suspend our disbelief to find out what happens next, even if we think what happens next is a total crock. In her Literature classes, The Metamorphoses is often on the syllabus. There is always one student who cannot accept the premise that the protagonist has become an insect, and therefore cannot enjoy or appreciate the book. This does not discourage our Jane. No. She feels better as a writer remembering that, "Nobody is that good. Not even Kafka." This was her step father's saying. And it is true, of course.
She reminded us that early novels were often morality tales. As in the Norse sagas, which Smiley winningly argues have all the themes to later appear in actual novels, there is usually a man who does not fit into his society. This antagonizes the society and forces a confrontation which changes the world as that society knew it. Cool. Early novels are not about normal people with no anguish or passion or problems. The inner lives of humans didn't figure into the themes of novels until more recent times. Novels have done exactly what the Church and the Establishment once feared. They have caused women and men to think differently and outside the box of their little worlds or economic stratas. They encouraged people to marry for love. They encouraged people to think well of difference in others, or at the very least , give people credit for character and not caste. And novels have given many of us who treasure them comfort and consolation and perspective in life's difficult times, whether a personal crises or a global one of the proportions of September 11, 2001.
Smiley amused us all when she told us that well into Proust's Remembrance of Things Past told so matter of factly one can miss the connection he shares with De Sade, she put the book aside for a week and read a Sue Grafton thriller. This was enjoyable escapism and reminded her how good it would be to return to the joys of reading Proust. Proust was an early inspiration for Smiley to speak in the deceptively natural, non threatening conversational voice she uses in her novels.
Jane is not a snob. She told us that as a girl she loved the Bobbsy Twins and Nancy Drew. This was in answer to a teacher's question about how to encourage reading of "great" literature. Smiley told us. "Have books in your home. Read to your children or not, but have books in your home. And try a little reverse psychology. Forbid them to read in bed. And then when you know they are under the covers with a flash light, run to the room every half hour and insist that they stop that nonsense and go to sleep." Perhaps that's how her parents encouraged her to read. She also made it clear that with young people we just need to be glad they read. If your girls are reading Sweet Valley High, they are reading for crying out loud! If you are lucky they will soon be reading To Kill A Mocking Bird or Member of the Wedding. And then they will be unstoppable. Try not to judge the material. Readers usually seek a higher level when left to their own devices. It's like collecting. Your tastes become more refined with time and practice.
Smiley's book goes into all this in much more detail and with much clearer scope. She offers 100 great novels from several cultures and talks about them in new and refreshing ways. She gives the reader a reason to want to read or even read a novel again. She provides a bibliography that would be a good guide to any home book shelf, and she told us that she can't wait to select another 100 novels and to consider the process all over again.
Even if you have been reading forever, even if you think you know it all already, even if you are a self proclaimed brainiac, get over yourself. This book can open up new areas to consider as you read. Start with Tales of the Genji, a novel concerned with the ephemeral nature of being. It's so old it's modern, and everything that was to come 1000 years later is in it, and still worth pondering. Enjoy.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable addition to understanding the novel, December 4, 2005
This review is from: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel (Hardcover)
One of the ways to consider this unusual book by Pulitzer-prize winning author Smiley is as an instruction book. I purchased this because it came up as a featured selection of the Writer's Digest Book Club, and its as good a book regarding the process of writing a novel as any I've read, and better than most. Smiley points out that, unlike many other artistic endeavors, the novel is one that doesn't require much equipment (paper and a pen/pencil). What it takes, more than anything is motivatioon and perseverance, as it is simply the accrual of words into sentences into paragraphs into pages. She underscores that getting your novel published is a different matter entirely, but if you want to write one, you likely have the ability.
The writing of this book itself was not necessarily as a textbook for writing programs, although Smiley has taught creative writing, but as therapy for Jane Smiley's own writing. From the text, it seems that Ms. Smiley was having problems with a recent novel of her own, and decided to undergo a course of reading (originally 275 novels, shortened to 101 after she began) that helped break the mental block she had about her novel and also gave insight into the "question of the novel" itself. To get there, though, Smiley covers a number of topics including a history of the novel as an art form: one of her thirteen ways of looking at the novel is through the lens of history, tracing the growth of the novel from Don Quixote. Another interesting portion covers the philosophy of novels, making the case that novel-reading is something of a subversive activity, as it incubates an ability to see multiple points of view (each novel, for example, requires that you try to understand at least one protagonist whose point of view is unique and unlike your own), thus leading to a more liberal view of the world (as opposed to a conservative, one-view-fits-all view of the world).
My favorite part of this book, and what likely will live on with me long after it has become just another book on my writing shelf, is how Smiley sees the novel as a game for both the reader and the writer. The reader expects the writer to follow the rules of the novel game: once a character and a setting are created, that the characters will proceed along the pages according to cause-and-effect relations (i.e., the plot) until a resolution is obtained. This is most apparent in the mystery genre, where the reader even tries to determine from clues presented by the author early on what the likely cause-and-effect resolution will be. But the game metaphor is even stronger for the writer, who gets to "roll the dice" for the characters and make those determinations of cause-and-effect according to what they think the most likely occurance would be. Some writers even complicate this by playing additional games as they write, trying to incorporate themes (in a novel about birth, the writer tries to make sure all the images reflect eggs, for example) or allusions to other works, places or events. As a game-player, I am surprised I had never thought of writing as just another game, but now that I've read Smiley on the matter, I feel like I'm never going to see it any other way, as it has changed my entire view of the process.
Half of the book is given over to a reading diary of those 101 novels that Smiley read on her way to creating the other half of the book. As someone who's been writing such immediate impressions on books as he's just read them, I admire her descriptions and commentary, even while feeling somewhat abashed at how few of these books I've read, although Smiley makes pains to state that her list is not a "Best Novels" list. If anything, it goes to show you that there is an incredible wealth of great literature to be had, and I've already marked a number of books from her list that I want to now read.
I'd highly recommend this book for both aspiring writers as well as anyone who likes to think about what they read.
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