Aspects of the Novel
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · September 14, 1956
A Writing pick for readers exploring Aspects of the Novel.
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- Who it’s for
- Forster makes the novel’s craft lively, witty, and clear without sanding off its complexity.
- Themes
- Novel-writing craft, Character types, Novel structure
- Genres
- Fiction Writing, Books & Reading, 20th-Century Literary Criticism
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
A Passage to IndiaE. M. Foster, E.M. Forster60% match
The Portrait of a LadyHenry James48% match
Our Mutual FriendCharles Dickens48% match
MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot45% match
For younger readers: Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London, Dreyer's English (adapted for Young Readers), The Wand in the Word
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Start with this bookAbout this book
E. M. Forster's guide sparkles with wit and insight for contemporary writers and readers. With lively language and excerpts from well-known classics, Forster (author of A Passage to India, Howards End, and A Room With a View) takes on the seven elements vital to a novel: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm.
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He not only defines and explains such terms as “round” versus “flat” characters (and why both are needed for an effective novel), but also provides examples of writing from such literary greats as Dickens and Austen. Forster's original commentary illuminates and entertains without lapsing into complicated, scholarly rhetoric, coming together in a key volume on writing."Forster's casual and wittily acute guidance...transmutes the dull stuff of He-Said and She-Said into characters, stories, and intimations of truth."—Harper's
The Novel, Examined
Forster makes the novel’s craft lively, witty, and clear without sanding off its complexity.
Come here for
- Seven elements, from story and character to pattern and rhythm
- Examples from Dickens and Austen, read with a writer’s eye
Expect
- Casual, sharply acute commentary rather than scholarly thickets
- A thoughtful blend of literary criticism and practical guidance
Where it sits
| 20th-Century Literary Criticism | 51% |
|---|---|
| Books & Reading | 48% |
| Fiction Writing | 36% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Writing as a Career
- Writing Nonfiction & Memoir
- Language Arts
- Authors
- E.M. Forster
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- September 14, 1956
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Novel-writing craft · Character types · Novel structure
- Reading lane
- Writing as a Career