Fundamentally a car is a means of
transportation. A motor and seats on wheels you use to get yourself
around town. Ultimately it is judged by its ability to fulfill that
function. If your Lamborghini has starter problems, or a grind in the
gear box as you shift into third, maybe even a rattle in the door at
180 mph, you may not find it a satisfying ride despite all its style.
A novel is in a similar situation. It
should tell a story and tell it well. Regardless of the first
person-third person structure, or its stream of consciousness, or its
exotic locale, a novel without the foundation of a solid story will
leave you dissatisfied.
Often in “literature” it is okay to
have style but no substance. I tried to read Flaubert's Bouvard
and Pecuchet last month. Maybe I stopped too soon but after a
while I got tired of the title characters. They stopped being funny
and Flaubert started looking mean to me.
On the opposite side I reread Raymond
Chandler's Lady in the Lake
this week. Although Chandler ties the story together all too neatly
and in too short a time frame I still found the story and characters
interesting, although I've read it multiple times.
I'll
give you that the two stories are not on the same plane. And that
they have different artistic goals. But if you don't finish reading a book
did the author do a good job of writing? If the goal was a Lamborghini or a Chevy does it matter if the car won't start or if you
can't make it to the grocery store?
A
broken Lamborghini is still, after all, just a broken car.
No comments:
Post a Comment