How to Reread a Novel
Published on 6. December 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
226 pages
978-0-8071-8070-9 (ISBN)
Description
A novel is among the most intricate of human creations, the result of thousands of choices and decisions. In How to Reread a Novel, Matthew Clark explicates the intricacies of fiction writing through practical analysis of the resources of narration, demystifying some of the tools novelists use to build worlds.
Drawing on classical philology, the rhetorical tradition, and recent approaches to narratology, Clark explores reading fiction as a complex experience of perception, cognition, and emotion, in which the writer of a narrative attempts to create and control the experience of the reader through the deployment of narrative techniques. Texts examined range from the Iliad and the Odyssey to contemporary literature, including detailed discussions of novels by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Henry James, and Raymond Chandler, as Clark investigates fundamental methodologies of narrative storytelling and the effects they employ to form beauty and meaning.
By exploring some of the central techniques of narrative composition, How to Reread a Novel helps uncover subtleties in a text that may be missed on a first reading, encouraging readers to go beyond the surface to see what creates the unique experience of reading fiction.
Drawing on classical philology, the rhetorical tradition, and recent approaches to narratology, Clark explores reading fiction as a complex experience of perception, cognition, and emotion, in which the writer of a narrative attempts to create and control the experience of the reader through the deployment of narrative techniques. Texts examined range from the Iliad and the Odyssey to contemporary literature, including detailed discussions of novels by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Henry James, and Raymond Chandler, as Clark investigates fundamental methodologies of narrative storytelling and the effects they employ to form beauty and meaning.
By exploring some of the central techniques of narrative composition, How to Reread a Novel helps uncover subtleties in a text that may be missed on a first reading, encouraging readers to go beyond the surface to see what creates the unique experience of reading fiction.
Reviews / Votes
"In this refreshingly down-to-earth and approachable book, Matthew Clark focuses on the handling of rhetorical figures and narrative situations in a wide range of authors from Homer to Toni Morrison, revealing in detail the mechanisms by which literary effects are created. Lucidly written, patiently argued, and deeply grounded in a lifetime of literary experience, How to Reread a Novel can change the way we read, amplifying both our understanding and our pleasure." - Peter J. Rabinowitz, author of Before Reading: Narrative Conventions and the Politics of InterpretationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baton Rouge
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
374 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8071-8070-9 (9780807180709)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Matthew Clark
How to Reread a Novel
E-Book
12/2023
Zando - Hillman Grad Books
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Matthew Clark is professor emeritus and senior scholar at York University in Toronto. His previous books include Narrative Structures and the Language of the Self and A Matter of Style: On Writing and Technique.