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spenkevich's review against another edition
4.0
Critics often get a bad reputation, and likely deservingly so. I often reflect on a quote by [a:Macedonio Fernández|321535|Macedonio Fernández|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1328532911p2/321535.jpg] that a critic knows nothing of what perfect literature is, but only what it is not and, especially while writing on Goodreads, am constantly haunted by Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation. I tend to think of critics as being that friend in high school that hangs out at your band practice. He is the friend that knows more about your songs than you do, and has memorized your lyrics before you've finished writing them; he is friend that talks about your band and is always there to support your band because somehow it makes him feel like he is part of the band, maybe even the key part. When I write on here I have to accept the fact that I am glorifying an art that puts stars in my eyes, but the more I point out theory and what does and doesn't work still in no way makes me feel as if I am able to create the art that I love to assess. Occasionally I have a bit of an existential crisis—everyone needs a good existential crisis from time to time—and wonder why I spent so much time writing about writing instead of simply attempting art myself (not that I'm a critic or am in any way qualified to give opinions on a book). Perhaps it is because I am no good at it but talking about it makes me feel like I can be part of that 'cool club' of artists, as if understanding [a:Roberto Bolaño|72039|Roberto Bolaño|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1260522528p2/72039.jpg] somehow makes me like one of the characters hanging out with him in his books that I so adore.
James Wood saves me from the despair of actually loving the idea of being a critic. To be honest, if you were to ask me 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' (because at 28 I still think of the future in this way and forget that I am 'grown up', because I sure as hell don't feel like it), I would answer that my 'rock-star' dream is to teach college lit and review books for the New Yorker. Just like my boy James Wood. Wood makes reviewing its own art form that is as equally valid and beautiful as literature itself. When I read his reviews, I read them with the same awe and critical eye as I do any novelist; the man packs theory and prose into tiny packages of literary power that paint a masterpiece of ideas on the canvas of a novel. Just today I was wowed by his review of [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411320559s/22522805.jpg|41115424] in which he managed to reveal all the novel's misgivings while capturing all the author's strengths. James Wood gives critics a good name, and his How Fiction Works is an immensely valuable read.
I learned more from this book than I did in all of college pursuing an English Degree. Wood tackles the theory and joy of an intensely impressive array of writers, probably pointing out even to them just what they get right or wrong ([a:John Updike|6878|John Updike|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1419249254p2/6878.jpg] is used in some of the best 'do NOT do this' passages of the book). This book is indispensable to anyone hoping to look deeper into books and have the literary science to solidify your own opinion and will create an endless to-read list from all the examples he delivers. Wood is opinionated, and rather aggressively so, though I tend to often agree with him and even when I don't his opinions are so well argued that they are still a joy to read. I take this down off the shelf and read over select passages (it is one long essay broken up into mercifully short 'chapters') at least once every few months. This man has my rock-star job and just may be my hero.
James Wood saves me from the despair of actually loving the idea of being a critic. To be honest, if you were to ask me 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' (because at 28 I still think of the future in this way and forget that I am 'grown up', because I sure as hell don't feel like it), I would answer that my 'rock-star' dream is to teach college lit and review books for the New Yorker. Just like my boy James Wood. Wood makes reviewing its own art form that is as equally valid and beautiful as literature itself. When I read his reviews, I read them with the same awe and critical eye as I do any novelist; the man packs theory and prose into tiny packages of literary power that paint a masterpiece of ideas on the canvas of a novel. Just today I was wowed by his review of [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411320559s/22522805.jpg|41115424] in which he managed to reveal all the novel's misgivings while capturing all the author's strengths. James Wood gives critics a good name, and his How Fiction Works is an immensely valuable read.
I learned more from this book than I did in all of college pursuing an English Degree. Wood tackles the theory and joy of an intensely impressive array of writers, probably pointing out even to them just what they get right or wrong ([a:John Updike|6878|John Updike|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1419249254p2/6878.jpg] is used in some of the best 'do NOT do this' passages of the book). This book is indispensable to anyone hoping to look deeper into books and have the literary science to solidify your own opinion and will create an endless to-read list from all the examples he delivers. Wood is opinionated, and rather aggressively so, though I tend to often agree with him and even when I don't his opinions are so well argued that they are still a joy to read. I take this down off the shelf and read over select passages (it is one long essay broken up into mercifully short 'chapters') at least once every few months. This man has my rock-star job and just may be my hero.
mayhap's review against another edition
3.0
Nowhere near as comprehensive as the title implies. No, I mean, just reading it you've already heavily discounted your estimate of what it can actually purport to explain, and I say to you that you should revise THAT downward.
Still, it is nearly as interesting as the vintage-inspired design is beautiful.
Still, it is nearly as interesting as the vintage-inspired design is beautiful.
onuryeats's review against another edition
4.0
Kitabın sonunda bahsedilen eserleri okuduktan sonra bu kitabı okumak daha keyifli olacaktır çünkü içinde romanlardan, öykülerden detaylı tahliller mevcut. Bunun dışında kitap edebiyat öğrencileri için oldukça faydalı. Wood, yalnızca temalara ve konulara odaklanmak yerine gerçek bir kritik olduğunu kanıtlayarak edebi eserin biçimsel özelliklerine odaklanıyor. Önümüzdeki yıllarda mutlaka elime tekrar alacağım bir kitap Kurmaca Nasıl İşler.
sherwoodreads's review against another edition
A short book, fizzing with Wood's enthusiasm for reading and books. A tad too male-gaze-as-arbiter-of-judgment to take too seriously, but he offers some good discussion on narrative convention, style, voice, and what he calls free indirect style, which covers those liminal bits that seem to be character/narrator thoughts but may actually be auctorial fiat.
This is the kind of book that is good reading when one wants to look at narrative process from another slant altogether.
This is the kind of book that is good reading when one wants to look at narrative process from another slant altogether.
quaerentia's review against another edition
5.0
Quite simply the best and most accessible introduction to the wonders and art of novel writing. His examples are uniformly instructive and eye opening. It makes one love it all the more.
In short this is deft brilliance.
In short this is deft brilliance.
toroyaguila's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Es un muy buen libro sobre cómo se construye la ficción narrativa, pero es limitado si le exigimos que dialogue con muchos fenómemos literarios contemporáneos. Quiero decir que el origen anglosajón del autor limita mucho sus ejemplos, son casi la gran mayoría centroeuropeos, ingleses o norteamericanos. Su propuesta sobre los aciertos estilísticos de algunas novelas o cuentos son interesantes, pero, repito, van con esas tradiciones literarias. Tan así que son contados los ejemplos de autoras (y ojo con esto porque las contamos acá con los dedos) y autores que ya estén cerca de finales del siglo XX (los 70, 80, etc.).
Me parece un buen libro de referencia, pero viviendo en Latinoamérica si lo tomo con pinzas.
Me parece un buen libro de referencia, pero viviendo en Latinoamérica si lo tomo con pinzas.
devindevindevin's review against another edition
4.0
short but dense. i don't agree with everything, but found nearly all of it entertaining if not enlightening. Made me think about my own writing in a way i never have, and solidified some thoughts about narration i couldn't put to words before.
saskia6's review against another edition
2.5
so boring, not organised well, and random rants which don’t aid what he’s saying