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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Flaubert vs. Chandler

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.

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