The Rhetoric of Fiction
July 21st 2011 09:23
I've been flat out lately on a number of projects and things needing to be done, and the Orble blogs have been neglected. Anyway, here's another post adding to my list of quotes, this time both from a book I thought was wonderful when I first read it. I subsequently lent it to a friend, who didn't get anything much out of it - and then, when I bought a second copy and read it again, I wondered what I'd seen in it! In spite of having raved over it so much initially, these are the only two quotes I collected from it...
The Rhetoric of Fiction (revised) - Wayne C Booth, pg 73
'Theme,' 'meaning,' 'symbolic significance,' 'theology,' or even 'ontology' - have been used to describe the norms which the reader must apprehend in each work if he is to grasp it adequately. Such terms are useful for some purposes, but they can be misleading because they almost inevitably come to seem like the purposes for which the works exist. Most works worth reading have so many possible 'themes,' that to find any one of them, and to announce it as what the work is for, is to do at best a very small part of the critical task.
The Rhetoric of Fiction (revised) - Wayne C Booth, pg 75
A great work establishes the 'sincerity' of its implied author, regardless of how grossly the man who created that author may belie in his other forms of conduct the values embodied in his work. For all we know, the only sincere moments of his life may have been lived as he wrote the novel.
Incidentally, the summary of the book on the Wikipedia link above is worth reading, and maybe reflects something of what I enjoyed in it originally. And you can see more quotes from the book on the 'Round and Square' blog.
'Theme,' 'meaning,' 'symbolic significance,' 'theology,' or even 'ontology' - have been used to describe the norms which the reader must apprehend in each work if he is to grasp it adequately. Such terms are useful for some purposes, but they can be misleading because they almost inevitably come to seem like the purposes for which the works exist. Most works worth reading have so many possible 'themes,' that to find any one of them, and to announce it as what the work is for, is to do at best a very small part of the critical task.
The Rhetoric of Fiction (revised) - Wayne C Booth, pg 75
A great work establishes the 'sincerity' of its implied author, regardless of how grossly the man who created that author may belie in his other forms of conduct the values embodied in his work. For all we know, the only sincere moments of his life may have been lived as he wrote the novel.
Incidentally, the summary of the book on the Wikipedia link above is worth reading, and maybe reflects something of what I enjoyed in it originally. And you can see more quotes from the book on the 'Round and Square' blog.
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Comment by Dan Cottone
Rootless
And I loved his discussion of the relation between narration and action. I got so tired of going to workshops and hearing "Show, don't tell." I just wanted to wave this book at people and say, "Sometimes you HAVE to narrate."
This was one of my favorite books on writing, along with The Art of Fiction by John Gardner. I know Gardner has somewhat fallen out of favor, but I love his attitude.
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report
Comment by Dan Cottone
Rootless
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report