Category Archives: fiction

Ten Years of Writing about Fiction Has Taught Me This

Fiction is the wildest form of writing. It attracts explorers, artists, and fighters. Their goals might be to punch a hole in the wall between the writer and the reader (Knausgaard), or tell us how the idea of  equality fell … Continue reading

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“Memories are then replaced by different joys and sorrows, and unbelievably . . . you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.”

This novel makes us ask: which versions of our memories are to be believed? Is it really true that the protagonist has all that she’s ever wanted? Is she hiding something? From whom? I disagree with the reviewer who described … Continue reading

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“Where does the road to ruin start?”

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is written as a recovery journal by a young man in Appalachia who was born to a single mother experiencing addiction. It’s the story that author Barbara Kingsolver wanted to write for years because every family … Continue reading

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“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”

Because we all make questionable decisions from time to time, it’s only natural to wonder if we are our own worst enemy, or if we are the hero in our life, or something in between. Many memoirs begin with this … Continue reading

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“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.”

This story about a man who turned into a type of insect has been called surreal, humorous. a horror story, neurotic, and “the greatest short story in the history of literary fiction.” I visited a museum devoted t0 Kafka in … Continue reading

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“I expect you to beat the odds. That’s my gift to you, in fact, that gift of expectations.”

At the end of this novel, Peter Sullivan tells the hard-scrabble students in his English class that he believes in them and expects them to succeed, even if no one else has ever had faith in them before. What a … Continue reading

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“I have learned,” said the Philosopher, “that the head does not hear anything until the heart has listened, and that what the heart knows to-day, the head will understand to-morrow.”

Interesting ideas sparkle throughout this novel. Here are two examples: “Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will” and “…for life may not be consecutive, but explosive and variable, else it is a shackled and timorous slave.” It was … Continue reading

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“Many years before, Abacus had come to the conclusion that the greatest of heroic stories have the shape of a diamond on its side.”

We are 500 pages into the story when this observation about the ideal structure for stories appears: “Beginning at a fine point, the life of the hero expands outward through youth as he begins to establish his strengths and fallibilities, … Continue reading

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“Twelve years after Robin’s death, no one knew any more about how he had ended up hanged from a tree in his own yard than they had on the day it happened.”

Even though I am not normally drawn to murder mysteries, I read this novel because Donna Tartt demonstrates how a writer can successfully break the rules. None of her characters are likeable; instead, they are suffering, or damaged, or limited, … Continue reading

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“I can allow myself to speculate on all that now, though it would not have occurred to me to do so at the time.”

When writing about something that happened years ago, should you stick to the story, or should you interject speculations about what could have happened? Should you also comment on your speculations? People who write stories about things that happened to … Continue reading

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“One goes on living in the hopes of seeing another spring,” Daphne said with a rush of emotion.

When the London Review of Books called Barbara Pym “a brilliant comic writer,” they had scenes like this in mind. Here’s how Pym does it: First, emotion is expressed – not by someone beautiful and in love, but by Daphne, … Continue reading

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“This is the story of a crisis in our lives . . . during a journey alone.”

With sequels, come skepticism, and when the first in the series won the Pulitzer Prize, it’s tempting to expect just a replay of what worked well before. One critic called for a better evaluation of American Life; others said it’s … Continue reading

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“Mom, I don’t know who to trust!”

Elizabeth Strout’s new novel — a Christmas gift of the first order – is her most enigmatic. Reviewers have drawn wildly different conclusions about the book’s message. For me, the book explores what happens when you don’t know who you … Continue reading

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“For what could be more peculiar than a crowd of grown-up people . . . discussing scholarly niceties that meant nothing to most of the world?”

One of the things that I love about Barbara Pym’s novels is that her characters never set out to impress anyone. They acknowledge that their choices – for example, attending an academic conference as treatment for a broken heart – … Continue reading

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“I felt there was a lot more I could say about the subject of danger.”

In Half Broke Horses, Lily Smith faces many dangers, from flash floods in rural Texas, to bankruptcy during the Great Depression, to medical emergencies that didn’t always end well. This convincing, unprettified narration doesn’t glorify “grit” – rather, it shows … Continue reading

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