The big contemporary novel is a perpetual motion machine that appears to have been embarrassed into velocity. It seems to want to abolish stillness, as if ashamed of silence. Stories and sub-stories sprout on every page, and these novels continually flourish their glamorous congestion.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Contemporary novels are described as over‑busy machines that avoid silence and fill pages with endless sub‑stories.
- In plain terms
- Modern novels are packed with nonstop plot and avoid quiet moments.
- What can you take from it?
- Too much narrative can drown out depth.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does narrative richness become clutter?
Another view
The view may overlook novels that value silence.
More from James Wood
An excess of storytelling has become the contemporary way of shrouding, in majesty, a lack; it is the Sun King principle. The lack is the human.
Permalink to quote #2
Related quotes
A good novelist, or so I have been taught in China, should be above all else tse ran, that is, natural, unaffected, and so flexible and variable as to be wholl…
Pearl BuckPearl Buck quote #24 You want me to begin a novel with The two women were alone in the London flat?
Doris LessingDoris Lessing quote #40 I believe there are two ways of writing novels. One is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life altogether; the other is goin…
P. G. WodehouseP. G. Wodehouse quote #201