In post-modern times, is the novel too old-fashioned to survive in the cultural mainstream? The New Yorker takes a look. For example:
There are altogether so many ways to abuse plot that we tend to forget what plot is at bottom—and what is lost when it is dispensed with entirely. Plot dramatizes incident and moves characters through time. In good novels, these functions combine to approximate not only the reality of life, which is of course linear and time-bound, but also, crucially, life’s tendency to defy abstraction and deflate our pretentions—to make fools of us.
Amazon is unwilling to release statistics on its business, but Claude Nougat made an estimate based on what is publicly available: there's a new ebook every five minutes. Also, it appears that ebook author fame can fade fast.
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Consider the Novel
2014.12.03 in Books, Commentary, Novels, Writing | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Tags: consider the state of the novel, narrative art, post-modern, reading, writing
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