Comments on: Has literary fiction lost the plot?

By: rozmorris @dirtywhitecandy

rozmorris @dirtywhitecandy — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:54:06 +0000

Beautifully argued. I can’t abide those novels that seem to lie down and have a think about themselves. I think those writers get stuck on a fascinating setting and character - and indeed have a lot to say about them. But they don’t then do the work to make it an active story and so it remains as little more than an exquisitely written essay.
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I just released my literary novel as a serial. If people weren’t grabbed by the first episode, they wouldn’t come back for more. They did, all the while writing reviews and tweets to declare how astonished they were to find themselves enjoying a piece of literary fiction. By the time they read the penultimate episode, they harangued me to release the last part early.
I think the foundation of it all is mystery. The mystery unfolding in the story itself and the wider mystery the narrative seems to capture - and somehow not answer, but deepen.

By: Yvonne Johnston (@Whyjay99)

Yvonne Johnston (@Whyjay99) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:53:20 +0000

Put quite simply, I couldn’t agree more!
Once heard Sophie Hannah say that she could only read a novel that had a mystery ’somewhere’ in it. Think that applies to me too.
Also - I did enjoy Mr. Satoshi!

By: Leeswammes (Judith)

Leeswammes (Judith) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:42:58 +0000

Hear, hear! I totally agree: give me a plot any day! It doesn’t have to twist and turn at every page, but there must be some goal to the protagonists actions, some progress in the story.