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A review by vankouseonfrostification
The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan
1.0
This book is violently boring.
1.The rigid adherence to realism in the first half of the book forgets why we have fiction: to GET AWAY from reality.The book seems like its cobbled together from diary entries. This isn't what we want. We want a story, a plot, descriptions.What does this have? Unending,monotonous narration.
2.Violates the most basic rule of description: show not tell. (As vague a rule as that is)It tells us what's happening, what the protagonist feels, etc. but utterly fails to allow the reader to visualize it. As a result, the author's attention to detail becomes a test of the reader's resilience to monotony.
- I hope to periodically add to this review-
Some thoughts:
1. I believe that the only way to derive any value from this book is to read it with a literary microscope, to drag out the hints of themes and ideas the author never bothered to develop properly. Essentially, the only possible use of this book is as an exercise in literary analysis. We must put in what the author left out.
EDITED after some (very delayed) reflection.
1.The rigid adherence to realism in the first half of the book forgets why we have fiction: to GET AWAY from reality.The book seems like its cobbled together from diary entries. This isn't what we want. We want a story, a plot, descriptions.What does this have? Unending,monotonous narration.
2.Violates the most basic rule of description: show not tell. (As vague a rule as that is)It tells us what's happening, what the protagonist feels, etc. but utterly fails to allow the reader to visualize it. As a result, the author's attention to detail becomes a test of the reader's resilience to monotony.
- I hope to periodically add to this review-
Some thoughts:
1. I believe that the only way to derive any value from this book is to read it with a literary microscope, to drag out the hints of themes and ideas the author never bothered to develop properly. Essentially, the only possible use of this book is as an exercise in literary analysis. We must put in what the author left out.
EDITED after some (very delayed) reflection.