Scan barcode
keight's review against another edition
4.0
While mainly written for writers of fiction, The Half-Known World is almost like a literature class in a book, as each chapter references certain novels or stories, indicated at the beginning, though reading them is also not necessary to understand the concepts presented in the essays. I hadn't read most of the referenced pieces, or hadn't read them recently, but can see how that may have elevated the experience. Read more on my booklog
ladypalutena's review against another edition
3.0
This book is composed of several essays that have to do with the craft of writing fiction. In the first chapter, Boswell rails against “normal” creative writing classes, where professors have students make lists of characters, settings, etc., and so on and so forth. I understand his meanings behind it, but I still feel like knowing things about my character helps me write the books.
Several of these chapters had me shaking my head and disagreeing, particularly when he praises Alice Munro. I know that she’s an important writer, and I know that she is practically worshiped for her prose, but I have never been able to truly get into her writings. Oh, I’ve read several short stories and collections of hers, but I’ve never seen what makes her worthy of being elevated to god-like status. That probably makes me a bad writer.
I also discovered that my fantasy plot is probably trite and will not be well-received by anyone, despite my professor enjoying what I’ve written so far and encouraging what I’ve written so far. It’s a little disheartening to read things like this, to be honest.
I understand where Boswell is coming from, and I understand that many people hold this as one of the best fiction-writing craft books out there, but it was just such a struggle for me to get involved in this. I spent nearly two months attempting to read this book, because I just could not get into it. Every single page was a trudge to get through.
Do I consider it a good book? Probably. Would I re-read this? Most likely not. It’s going to go on my writing shelf just in case I need to reference it at some point in the future. But for now…it’s not for me.
I don’t feel right in giving this a “proper” grade. It has a 4.2 on GoodReads, but I’m just not feeling this. I’m sure it will help many other people, but it was a lot of repetition and a lot of things I disagreed with. Maybe I’ve just had bad creative writing professors (and I KNOW that’s not the case).
Have you read this book? What were your opinions on it? Do you think we can accurately grade books that fall into the category of “craft” books? Let me know in the comments!
And as always, keep reading.
Originally posted on https://booksareonlythebeginning.wordpress.com/2018/06/17/book-review-the-half-known-world-by-robert-boswell/
Several of these chapters had me shaking my head and disagreeing, particularly when he praises Alice Munro. I know that she’s an important writer, and I know that she is practically worshiped for her prose, but I have never been able to truly get into her writings. Oh, I’ve read several short stories and collections of hers, but I’ve never seen what makes her worthy of being elevated to god-like status. That probably makes me a bad writer.
I also discovered that my fantasy plot is probably trite and will not be well-received by anyone, despite my professor enjoying what I’ve written so far and encouraging what I’ve written so far. It’s a little disheartening to read things like this, to be honest.
I understand where Boswell is coming from, and I understand that many people hold this as one of the best fiction-writing craft books out there, but it was just such a struggle for me to get involved in this. I spent nearly two months attempting to read this book, because I just could not get into it. Every single page was a trudge to get through.
Do I consider it a good book? Probably. Would I re-read this? Most likely not. It’s going to go on my writing shelf just in case I need to reference it at some point in the future. But for now…it’s not for me.
I don’t feel right in giving this a “proper” grade. It has a 4.2 on GoodReads, but I’m just not feeling this. I’m sure it will help many other people, but it was a lot of repetition and a lot of things I disagreed with. Maybe I’ve just had bad creative writing professors (and I KNOW that’s not the case).
Have you read this book? What were your opinions on it? Do you think we can accurately grade books that fall into the category of “craft” books? Let me know in the comments!
And as always, keep reading.
Originally posted on https://booksareonlythebeginning.wordpress.com/2018/06/17/book-review-the-half-known-world-by-robert-boswell/
kellylynnthomas's review against another edition
4.0
Read for Thesis Seminar. This is the best book on writing fiction that I've ever read. Boswell skips the jargon and superior attitude bullshit and just writes essays that deeply analyze fiction and provide strategies for writers to try for the same effects in their own work.
wanderer222's review
4.0
There is some good writing advice here, despite the lack of diversity in the examples used. You can tell the age of the author by the over-reliance on cannonical works--the usual suspects such as Melville, O'Connor, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. Indeed, this book is very much written like an old-school English professor wrote it--it veers more academic than something suitable for a popular audience. The prose might be too dense/analytic for someone just starting out as a writer, or someone without a degree in English (being honest). That said, I think it could be helpful for well-read writers who are hoping to "level up" their game--by thinking about what really works in what we consider "great" works of literature, or why great works of literature are "great," at all. The concept of the "half-known world" was quite interesting and helpful to my own approach to writing fiction.
More...