A review by frtps
Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Reflections on the novel by a novelist. You will not necessarily find the nuts and bolts of how to write a novel here, but you will find many stimulating ideas about ways to assess and engage with a novel, and what you might try to do to improve your own novel. There is a great deal of humour, some of it a little hidden as each chapter was originally a lecture and the tone of voice is lost.
The weakest parts are those that talk about "prophecy". I found it difficult to understand quite what E. M. Forster was getting at; the rest of the chapters were very accessible and thought-provoking. I particularly liked the first chapter on "story", where EM Forster's view on "story" being the most primitive part of the novel, and in a sense the most odious, accords with my way of classifying the most basic novels as entertainment if all they do is provide an engaging narrative.
The lectures were delivered almost a hundred years ago, and many novels have been written since then; it would be interesting to think about more recent novels in the terms that EM Forster does here.
The weakest parts are those that talk about "prophecy". I found it difficult to understand quite what E. M. Forster was getting at; the rest of the chapters were very accessible and thought-provoking. I particularly liked the first chapter on "story", where EM Forster's view on "story" being the most primitive part of the novel, and in a sense the most odious, accords with my way of classifying the most basic novels as entertainment if all they do is provide an engaging narrative.
The lectures were delivered almost a hundred years ago, and many novels have been written since then; it would be interesting to think about more recent novels in the terms that EM Forster does here.