"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Forster's book is not really a book at all; rather, it's a collection of lectures delivered at Cambridge University on subjects as parboiled as "People," "The Plot," and "The Story." It has an unpretentious verbal immediacy thanks to its spoken origin and is written in the key of Aplogetic Mumble: "Those who dislike Dickens have an excellent case. He ought to be bad." Such gentle provocations litter these pages. How can you not read on? Forster's critical writing is so ridiculously plainspoken, so happily commonsensical, that we often forget to be intimidated by the rhetorical landscapes he so ably leads us through. As he himself points out in the introductory note, "Since the novel is itself often colloquial it may possibly withhold some of its secrets from the graver and grander streams of criticism, and may reveal them to backwaters and shallows."
And Forster does paddle into some unlikely eddies here. For instance, he seems none too gung ho about love in the novel: "And lastly, love. I am using this celebrated word in its widest and dullest sense. Let me be very dry and brief about sex in the first place." He really means in the first place. Like the narrator of a '50s hygiene film, Forster continues, dry and brief as anything, "Some years after a human being is born, certain changes occur in it..." One feels here the same-sexer having the last laugh, heartily.
Forster's brand of humanism has fallen from fashion in literary studies, yet it endures in fiction itself. Readers still love this author, even if they come to him by way of the multiplex. The durability of his work is, of course, the greatest raison d'être this book could have. It should have been titled How to Write Novels People Will Still Read in a Hundred Years. --Claire Dederer
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR009954838
Book Description Condition: Poor. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. Book contains pencil markings. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,450grams, ISBN:0713157690. Seller Inventory # 9726384
Book Description Condition: Fair. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. Book contains pencil markings. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Re-bound by library. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,450grams, ISBN:0713157690. Seller Inventory # 9726383
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. Ex library hardback with DJ; usual stamps/markings. Page edges little tanned & some minor highlighting otherwise a clean, sound copy. Ready for immediate despatch from UK. 49E*. Seller Inventory # SFL13-070
Book Description hardcover. Condition: Acceptable. Acceptable. book. Seller Inventory # D7S9-1-M-0713157690-3