Blogcritics: Comments on The Seven Qualities I Look for in a Novel

Comment by Animesh Rawal

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 04:03:56 EST

Great List. It is definitlely one of those things that give you a Deja Vu kind of a feeling, where you think you have read it before, but not really. It was all in your mind all the while and someone has just taken the trouble to pen it all down impeccably. I couldn't agree with you more on those parameters. As far as Da Vinci Code is concerned, I really think that it is overrated. I found the flow very unconvincing at times, but I like it for the depth of research and all the background info.

Comment by scaramouche

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:06:21 EST

Katherine--I'm not surprised your friend at the bookstore hasn't had any positive feedback about Foucault's Pendulum. It's a notoriously difficult book and if he or she is suggesting at as an alternative to the my-easy-reader-like The Da Vinci Code, readers who take this advice are likely to be very disappointed--not to mention utterly baffled. It's like recommending George Eliot's Middlemarch to a fan of Danielle Steele. I would say Foucault's Pendulum is only for those who enjoy a more abstruse and challenging intellectual exercise, which, for me, what was precisely what I was looking for after reading The Code. My book club doesn't have any hard and fast rules. We're on the look-out for "good books", although we often disagree about whether the selection falls into that category. Generally, I'm the odd person out: if I like it; they hate it, and vice versa. For example, they despised--despised--"The Life of Pi", by Yann Martel, a book which I quite liked, while they adored a book called "Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith" by an author whose name I can't recall, while I thought it was a failed attempt at "magic realism", a genre which, when it doesn't work, seems merely silly. They also detested the non-fiction "Reading Lolita in Teheran", which I found extremely compelling.

Comment by Katharine Donelson

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 01:17:45 EST

1. I have a friend who works at a bookstore whose taken to suggesting Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum when asked the question, "Uhm, can you recommend anything like the Da Vinci Code?" To my knowledge, no one's come back to tell her just how much they love the Eco. 2. I like your criteria. 3. My book club has the "books make you a boring person" rules. Nothing formula written, nothing ghost written. And for every five things we read about subjects we're passionate about, we have to read something completely foreign to us. It works out nicely as we all have pretty much the same tastes. (Although, our recent "outside our usual taste" actually broke rule 1. We read Tatum O'Neal's paper life. I didn't finish it.)

Comment by scaramouche

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 16:43:42 EST

Matt Shafer--I don't really see how calling myself "a cranky contrarian" is "patting myself on the back". Not saying I'm better here--only acknowledging that I like to march to my own tempo. Eric Berlin--Hmm. There aren't a lot of books that have all seven qualities. But it's not really a "holy grail" kind of search. Usually, I'm content to settle for two or three; it's rare indeed to find a novel that satisfies all seven. Personally, thrills and chills aren't that high up on my list, but if I could find an intelligent, witty, hefty thriller, I'd be delighted to read it. Something by Graham Greene, perhaps, although I find his books are often too weighed down by all that Catholic angst. I love Victorian doorstoppers--usually anything by Dickens, Trollope or George Eliot is high on my list. In a more contemporary vein, I love Philip Roth, Milan Kundera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ian MacEwen. My favorite book last year was The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (I'm sure I got the spelling wrong), by Michael Chabon--that one was definitely a seven. My favorite books this year were Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides--I read it twice, once on my own, and once with my book group--and Small Island, by British author, Andrea Levy. DrPat--I know what you mean about consistency. I'm always so disappointed when I fail to connect with another work by an author whose book I had enjoyed so much. Take Michael Chabon, for example. Adored Kavalier and Clay; Wonderboys, his previous novel, didn't do it for me at all. Go figure.

Comment by DrPat

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:58:48 EST

Great list! I can't think of a single characteristic I'd add for fiction, except perhaps consistency. It's annoying enough to buy a book and find it totally disappointing. It's twice as irritating to buy one by an author you can usually trust to meet 6 out of 7 of your criteria, and still be left flat.

Comment by Eric Berlin

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:22:08 EST

I hear what you're saying. Believe me, I do. However, might you agree that it's possible to find authors who combine your seven well thought out qualities with, in your words, "thrills, chills, mystery, mayhem, action and suspense"? Because that's what I look for. When I wrap it all up I think of this grand combination as a good story told by a good story teller. Point of fact: I haven't read The DaVinci Code, though I'm often tempted just so I don't feel so left out during TDC conversations. In any case, I'm curious to learn what authors/books meet the standards of your seven qualities. Eric Berlin Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash http://dumpsterbust.blogspot.com

Comment by Matt Schafer

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:14:10 EST

Oh well, that's me--a cranky contrarian, out of synch, once again, with the zeitgeist and at odds with conventional wisdom. Don't pat yourself on the back or nothing. :)