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Criteria for a Good Novel - FICTION EXAM
Michael Stutz
Intro To Fiction Final
Dr. Burchmore
3-14-9O
First and foremost, I'm going to define what I believe is the
ultimate purpose of novels. To me, the novel's prime purpose in life
is to gain some sort of insight on life itself - it should be realistic
so that you 'lose yourself' in it. This insight can be gained in many
ways, such as by a philosophical viewpoint that the novel takes, a funny
or comical view of something in the novel, or anything really, just as
long as the reader learns something. Anything. (But we have to stick
'about life' after that. If all you learn is that Abe Lincoln was
a US President, it's not a novel, you could read a fourth grade history
book for that. So you have to learn something about life and living,
especially as it relates to life on this planet.)
Now that my definition is clear (I hope), I can define the
criteria for a good novel. Above all, it must fulfill the definition
above. It can do this using any/all of the techniques below, and
probably many more that I just haven't thought of right now at this
moment:
Characterization: REAL people. No Batmans or soap opera types, but
people that you run into in everyday life, or ones
that you WISH you'd run into. I can't say I've
ever known a Cliff Huxtable, but I've encountered
many a Jason Compson.
Description,
Imagery: I want lots of good descriptions and imagery that
is useful (relates to themes and ideas). Good
stuff will make you want to read a book at one
sitting, and good images will remain in your
memory for a long time. (I still remember
reading Joyce's "The Boarding House" and the
images that the poor Irish house was given.)
Plot: I like suprises, but if a plot is all suprise and
just a trip from point A to point B, it's boring
and no fun to read, especially the second time
around. So I like complex plots that use all of
these other things and tie it all back to the
theme. The more interprative the better.
Setting: I'm VERY myopic about this. I will NOT read
anything about Russia, Europe, or Egypt. I like
settings that I can relate to, so American novels
only, please.
Motifs: To me a novel is like a piece of music, and motifs,
like music, blend the themes together, sometimes
recurring at different volume levels and tones.
I like that.
Tone,
Atmosphere: This kind of stuff I really get into, also.
To me, atmosphere and tone are EXTREMELY important
elements of fiction, partly because they portray
the author's feeling, and if you don't know the
feeling, you can't interpret it. (Well, to me,
anyway)
Point of View: I put trust in the author in that he/she has
written the novel in the best point of view for
it. (Does this make sense?)
And now, my two favorites and two worst:
WORST
Moll Flanders: I respect DeFoe, he was the first novel writer, and
his journalistic quality is really getting 'hip'
again, with people like Thomas Woolfe and the New
Journalism (there's nothing new under the sun).
But, the characters were so shallow and it was so
old of a book that it got in the way of my reading.
Pride and Prejudice:The characters were like "Dangerous Liasons",
they didn't do anything. Unless I win the lottery,
I'll never be able to relate to them.
BEST
The Sound and the Fury:If I could only get MY thoughts down on
paper like Faulkner did!!
Native Son: It was gripping and it made me look at racial
prejudice from a different perspective. That's
one thing I really can't stand and so I was
intrigued while reading this novel. Besides,
when I was at the library taking it out, this
old man said to me, "I saw that play 35 years ago
at the Hanna." And his eyes lit up like he really
enjoyed it.
Michael Stutz
3/14/90