Monday, January 30, 2012

Features: A Question

What do you want in a novel? What features do you as a reader most like? Dialogue? Action? What? What would your ideal novel look like? (I'm attempting to create the perfect novel.) What novelist in your opinion has approached the ideal? In what way?

Just asking.

2 comments:

BradyDale said...

It's all about memorable characters to me and a sense that change has occurred in whatever world the novel focuses in on. It's cliched, of course, but MOBY DICK and THE GREAT GATSBY come immediately to mind in both cases.

It helps if the cast of characters includes one that you just can't quite sort out. If it wasn't for SNAPE, I wouldn't think much of Harry Potter, but Snape makes it special. Snape is conflicted and mysterious and people will debate for years what was really going on with that guy.

I will automatically NOT read a book about a writer or set at a university. I like to see the imaginative gears working a bit.

Eat The Babies! - a comic

King Wenclas said...

Agreed about MB and GG. I mention Gatsby in my latest post at American Pop Lit-- worth a look.