The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot (Art of...)

published	July 24th 2007 by Graywolf Press
binding	Paperback
isbn	1555974732 (isbn13: 9781555974732)
pages	120
description	The Art Of series is a new series of brief books by contemporary writers on important craft issues. Each book investigates an element of the craft of ...more [close] The Art Of series is a new series of brief books by contemporary writers on important craft issues. Each book investigates an element of the craft of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry by discussing works by authors past and present. The books in the Art Of series are not strictly manuals, but serve readers and writers by illuminating aspects of the craft of writing that people think they already know but don’t really know. Fiction writer and essayist Charles Baxter’s The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot discusses and illustrates the hidden subtextual overtones and undertones in fictional works haunted by the unspoken, the suppressed, and the secreted. Using an array of examples from Melville and Dostoyevsky to contemporary writers Paula Fox, Edward P. Jones, and Lorrie Moore, Baxter explains how fiction writers create those visible and invisible details, how what is displayed evokes what is not displayed. [close]
date added	02-21-07 edit book

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Derek rated it:

06/25/08

I resist reading other reviews before I write my own, mostly because when they say something I'm in agreement with, I feel obliged to say it differently, and I thus end up being unclear. But after finishing Baxter's The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot, I found myself a little underwhelmed and lacked the words to describe just why. But I came across another review that said basically what I was looking to say, only mor...more I resist reading other reviews before I write my own, mostly because when they say something I'm in agreement with, I feel obliged to say it differently, and I thus end up being unclear. But after finishing Baxter's The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot, I found myself a little underwhelmed and lacked the words to describe just why. But I came across another review that said basically what I was looking to say, only more eloquently than I am capable: Baxter's suggestions on how to write subtext are, well, largely subtextual. This book is certainly not a how-to, and it's probably my own fault for asking this book to be something it is not supposed to be. But I found that to get to some "practical" advice, you had to sift through a lot of words on, as the aforementioned review says, "why you should" as opposed to how you should.

I admire the book for not going into the standard writing guide fare, but I also think that, when dealing with something as complex as subtext, it's helpful to have some concrete suggestions to anchor the discussion. His close readings of Frost and others are helpful, and one could compose an entire summer reading list just off of the references he makes throughout. In all fairness, Baxter acknowledges the challenges of writing a book like this at the outset; it's much like telling someone how to hear the unheard. But his fiction is good enough for me to know that he knows how to do this. I feel like he's holding his cards (a royal flush, obviously) close to his face, and only letting the lowly would-be writer get a glimpse of them here and there.

Charles Baxter is approximately 3 million times more intelligent than I am. In my review of Baxter's (in my opinion, superior) book Burning Down the House, I described his writing as "strangely conversational and academic at the same time." I think here he doesn't walk this line quite as deftly, coming across more academic than conversational. I'm not really pointing this out as a fault, and wouldn't describe "academic" writing in a negative light. It's simply that the mix of tones was an aspect of Burning Down the House that I thought made it such an enjoyable read. I'm not looking for a Dummies Guide to Creating a Subtext written in Comic Sans, but I liked how he was able to take his very eloquent and intelligent ideas and make them seem obvious. This book gives you much less, and for a subject like subtext, I guess I was just looking for a little bit more.

I liked what he had to say about characters not being people you would want to know or be in real life. I also liked what he had to say about forcing your characters into confined spaces, but I'm not sure where these observations fit into the theme of the book. It's certainly a book I plan on revisiting, and my review will likely be updated upon catching all of the stuff I missed the first time. After a first read-through, though, I'm a little disappointed, in myself for not being bright enough to get everything he is asking me to get, and in the book, for not giving me more of a nudge in the right direction.
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Beth rated it:

01/24/08

Read in January, 2008

This is one book in a series about the art of writing (some of the others include commentary on poetry). Charles Baxter's book is a collection of essays all dealing with the same subject. Although I understood the point of each essay, it would be difficult to summarize them as a whole, hence I'll provide a brief summary of each.
The Art of Staging is more than simply about setting but how setting and positioning of characters leads to the what is going on underneath the action. Although ther...more

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