While the publishing industry seems to demand action, surprise, shock, and reversals on every page, I despair for the future of stories that unspool slowly and encourage contemplation.
Yes, a good idea to lift up quiet books. Not long ago I belatedly got to the novels of Barbara Pym, which are uneventful by any standard but excellent, I think. Or again I'd praise Nabokov's Pnin, where there have been grave events and considerable misfortune before the story actually starts, but where the most dramatic thing to happen on the page is a climatic scene where he might have broken a punch bowl. (I won't spoil the reveal...) "Quiet" is in no way contrary to what can be engaging or deeply felt.
Beautifully put. Yes "in no way contrary to what can be engaging or deeply felt." Have you read Maggie Smith's You Could Make This Place Beautiful? I just finished it and treasured every word.
Lovely essay on “quiet” books, Jennifer.
Looking forward to your next one!
Yes, a good idea to lift up quiet books. Not long ago I belatedly got to the novels of Barbara Pym, which are uneventful by any standard but excellent, I think. Or again I'd praise Nabokov's Pnin, where there have been grave events and considerable misfortune before the story actually starts, but where the most dramatic thing to happen on the page is a climatic scene where he might have broken a punch bowl. (I won't spoil the reveal...) "Quiet" is in no way contrary to what can be engaging or deeply felt.
Beautifully put. Yes "in no way contrary to what can be engaging or deeply felt." Have you read Maggie Smith's You Could Make This Place Beautiful? I just finished it and treasured every word.
And here: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/wallace-stegner-and-the-trap-of-using-other-peoples-writing
I am grateful to my friend Kate Evans for directing me to the controversy over Stegner's theft of the life of Mary Hallock Foote. He plagiarized passage after passage after passage of her letters and writing, without any attribution. Read more here: https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a39179237/wallace-stegner-mary-hallock-foote-plagarism/
Wow! What a story, compellingly sad but true.
Yes. I write more about this for next week's edition! I keep having more thoughts...