How to Read a Novel by John Sutherland
Don't get me wrong - I'm a great fan of Sutherland. His Lives of The Novelists is a lovely laid back TRAIPSE through literature, far in advance of Sam Johnson's Lives of the Poets.
The problem is that How to Read a Novel is not about how to read a novel at all. Instead, it's a jolly romp through what Sutherland knows about books (a lot) and his adventures along the way. It's lovely to learn what "copyright" means and where novels began and the ins and outs of authorical rivalry - but it ain't reading. Now and again Sutherland drops in a clue but otherwise the reader keen to learn how to read a novel will learn pretty much nothing at all. A hand book for writers though, and, as with all Sutherland's stuff, well worth the reading. Blame the publishers. 4/5
The problem is that How to Read a Novel is not about how to read a novel at all. Instead, it's a jolly romp through what Sutherland knows about books (a lot) and his adventures along the way. It's lovely to learn what "copyright" means and where novels began and the ins and outs of authorical rivalry - but it ain't reading. Now and again Sutherland drops in a clue but otherwise the reader keen to learn how to read a novel will learn pretty much nothing at all. A hand book for writers though, and, as with all Sutherland's stuff, well worth the reading. Blame the publishers. 4/5
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