Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction

by Charles Baxter

published

February 1st 1998 by Graywolf Press

edit

binding

Paperback, 248 pages

isbn

1555972705 (isbn13: 9781555972707)

description

For fiction lovers, history and social commentary on the genre is a thought-provoking addition to reading. Novelist Charles Baxter's essays on contemp...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | Abebooks | more...

discuss this book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

groups with this book

friend reviews (0)

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 312)

all | this edition

Richard rated it:

07/11/08

Read in August, 2007

The best essays in this collection present the idea of a thinking writer talking about writing--not just a critic's point of view, not just a teacher's point of view. The shortcomings of the critical perspective are, I think, obvious, but the pedagogical standpoint can also be limiting in that it can too easily fall into workshop mentality, where everything is immediately accesible and clear, and good fiction does not work to please immediately but resonate much further into a person's existence...more The best essays in this collection present the idea of a thinking writer talking about writing--not just a critic's point of view, not just a teacher's point of view. The shortcomings of the critical perspective are, I think, obvious, but the pedagogical standpoint can also be limiting in that it can too easily fall into workshop mentality, where everything is immediately accesible and clear, and good fiction does not work to please immediately but resonate much further into a person's existence and challenge things that may have once seemed so easy to understand. Baxter is, of course, a teacher, but his viewpoint is to resist easy categorizations of anything, which show him to be a thinking writer, someone who evaluates and re-evaluates and considers and reconsiders his craft a lot, because in fiction there are no easy answers.

But even that last statement is not a fair one in Baxter's essays. He argues for the antagonist, for plot, discouraging fiction that is just a play of characters where everyone is understood and sympathized for. He also argues for the music of fiction, as well as its silence and the way it handles introspection. Though Baxter's examples of writers who exemplify the method he is currently expounding are not always convincing, and sometimes he seems to work hard to make sure he notes writers of various schools and styles (though I must admit that I appreciate his respect for the old Russians), Baxter clearly wants to make his ideas inviting. He is not out to present the art of writing as one sealed away in a silver tower, where only the priveleged few can partake and perhaps even create, but one that is necessary to us all. His opening essay, "Dysfunctional Naratives," immediately addresses the needs of fiction, especially in a current world of denial and self-denial. Clearly, Baxter is out to show the necessity of good writing, and to remind us what makes literature.

Baxter's most critical-style essay in here is on Donald Barthelme, which unfortuantely seemed to misunderestimate the Great One and maybe doesn't really dig into the level of satire and wit of the D. Barthelme, which was to be cognizant of the tensions of mixed language and the essences of words that Baxter notes and use those against themselves to create even more clarity in its own paradoxical way. Baxter's focus on D. Barthelme's work seems to focus on the more critically-studied ones rather than the works that were pure joys of ear and mind, like The King, so it would seem that Baxter fell into D. Barthelme's own trap on that one, by taking a critical eye and yet always being out of reach of that writer's true intents, which the critical eye cannot really focus on.

Overall, though, a worthwhile book for those learning the craft as well as those who love to read. Baxter, like a good magican, does not give away the tricks, for the tricks themselves are not the essence of the act (nor are they necessarily tricks). Instead, Baxter delves into the philiosophy of writing, its purest essence, and both writers and readers alike would be serviced well by this book for learning a few names to check out as well as seeing how the writing mind thinks--to learn to resist the easy conclusions and look for the more difficult ones, which are usually more correct, but also to take pleasure in your work and the works of others. This book came out before The Feast of Love, so in the artistic biography of Baxter this would seem to be when he gathered together his forces to write one of his best books, one that avoids epiphany and favors examination and also examines the silences between people in prose that most definitely sings.
...less

Like this review? yes

title link
avg rating
small image
med image
large image

Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction

discuss this book

groups with this book

friend reviews (0)

lists with this book

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 312)

book data (includes all editions)

view this book

view this book

blog this book

popular shelves

other editions

quote