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captlychee's review against another edition
3.0
The points he makes are interesting and intelligent, and he manages to add in some humour into his lectures. I could only wish that his examples were more current, but of course he can't be better than his times, and predict what novels would be around today that make his points. You could see this as a reason to read some of those old classics, too, in light of what he writes about them.
It was good to read that the man who wrote [b:The African Queen|423125|The African Queen|C.S. Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344268611l/423125._SY75_.jpg|712587], or rather, didn't write it because [a:C.S. Forester|932179|C.S. Forester|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1218219226p2/932179.jpg] did, likes [b:The Swiss Family Robinson|62111|The Swiss Family Robinson|Johann David Wyss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385171459l/62111._SX50_.jpg|2441994]. He says he will probably be reading it in his dorage, and I hope that I will be, too.
It was good to read that the man who wrote [b:The African Queen|423125|The African Queen|C.S. Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344268611l/423125._SY75_.jpg|712587], or rather, didn't write it because [a:C.S. Forester|932179|C.S. Forester|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1218219226p2/932179.jpg] did, likes [b:The Swiss Family Robinson|62111|The Swiss Family Robinson|Johann David Wyss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385171459l/62111._SX50_.jpg|2441994]. He says he will probably be reading it in his dorage, and I hope that I will be, too.
warrenl's review against another edition
4.0
There is a lot of hi-falutin' stuff in here that shot right over the top of my rather lowly intellect, but Forster taught me a great deal as I plugged through to the end, and I will now view and reflect on every novel I read, or ever have read, in different lights and with greatly enhanced clarity. On this alone, I judge this little book a great success.
reverie_and_books's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This is a collection of lecture notes for a course he gave at Cambridge University in 1927. It spans the topics Story, People, Plot, Fantasy, Prophecy, Patterns, and Rhythm of novels. In that way this is a meta-book on the art of writing novels, the connections between People and Plot, the differences between scholars, pseudo-scholars and critics, and much more.
“The final test of a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else which we cannot define.”
Forster acknowledges personal taste and relations to a novel before putting this important but subjective matter aside. With reference to many classic authors like Melville, Dickens, E. Brontë and Austen, but also the (to him) superior novels of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, he give examples in regards to the topics he discusses.
This collection might be especially fun if you’ve read a few classic novels and want to dissect the matter they are made of.
“The final test of a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else which we cannot define.”
Forster acknowledges personal taste and relations to a novel before putting this important but subjective matter aside. With reference to many classic authors like Melville, Dickens, E. Brontë and Austen, but also the (to him) superior novels of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, he give examples in regards to the topics he discusses.
This collection might be especially fun if you’ve read a few classic novels and want to dissect the matter they are made of.
andrewspink's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
The interest in this short book is mainly that it was written about 100 years ago, and it shows how much (and how little) views about literature have changed. The basic building blocks are the same, which characters and plots and so on. But the values are clearly different. He is mostly rather negative about Dickens, calling his characters two-dimensional and downright scathing about James Joyce, and George Eliot has apparently 'no nicety of style'. However, he devotes long passages to authors which I've never heard of - and I don't think that is entirely due to my ignorance, they have just not stood the test of time.
This book is historically interesting, but doesn't give many insights into literature that apply 100 years later.
This book is historically interesting, but doesn't give many insights into literature that apply 100 years later.
timdams007's review against another edition
4.0
A classic. Even though some parts, language-wise, are a bit awkward to read nowadays, the core aspects still are as relevant today as they were a century ago. Even if you’re not interested in what constitutes a good novel, just read this one for the way the author/teacher/critic talks. Great fun!