What are you reading now?

[vinteuil]

... after Jocelyn Brooke, Aldous Huxley. After Crome Yellow (which was fun: a spoof on the Ottoline Morrell set at Garsington) almost at the end of Antic Hay. Very funny, desperately sad. A satire on the 'bright young things' of London in the 1920s, trying manically to 'have a good time' as a diversion from the awfulness of the Great War from which they have just escaped.

Influenced by the character of Pasteur Mercaptan in Antic Hay, I shall now have to read la Sopha of Crébillon fils...



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[smittims]

For someone who simply wanted to have a go at writing a book I'd say you've done well to get two novels published!

It seems to me that novels that sell nowadays are the result of a lot of knowledge and research into the most saleable plots, character names and ages, and even paragraph and sentence length. I even think it likely that a lot of novels are 'written' by computers with all this data programmed in. I wouldn't be surprised if this applies to those novels 'ghost-written' by bright english-lit. graduates employed by publishers to produce the novels that appear under the names of celebrity TV chefs and gardeners .

To my mind, someoen who just wanted to write a book deserves far more praise than that. It would be nice to think this could still succeed. But I fear its about as likely as someone driving a hire-purchase Delahaye from London to Le Mans and taking patrt in the 24-hours, as Rob Walker did in 1939.

[french frank]

Well FF, it was mostly because I thought I'd have a go at writing a book (ok, it turned into 2 with a third in progress) but it would have been nice to have made a reasonable amount of money from it! So far, I've spent more on the advertising than I've made in royalties. I gave up on the advertising in the summer as, despite 1600 page views / unique users, not one single copy was attributable to that.

Well, I have two examples to quote. A friend wrote a collection of short sories and self-published them, i.e. paid to have them printed and bound as a paperback by a local printer (very nicely too) and then stuck a slip in his Christmas cards to friends with all the details. The printer undertook a certain amount of the publishing services with a web presence, but all financial risk lay with the author. I bought a copy - and thought them very well written and passed the word on to one of his students and she bought a copy too. I don't like to ask how many copies he had printed or has left ... I doubt he made much money, if any.

My only (completed) novel was first sent to a professional reader who made suggestions which I rejected out of hand because it meant completely rethinking what I was trying to say (which obviously hadn't been made clear! ). Established publishers don't now accept unsolicited manuscripts, so I approached several agents, one of whom was complimentary but they currently 'didn't have a suitable gap in their list' (can't remember the exact phrase but it meant NO). But my view was that if it didn't reach the publishable standards set by professionals, I didn't want it published anyway. If it it didn't make it through the system it probably just wasn't good enough. (Also I didn't reveal my own name at any point in the process! )

[Jonathan]

I suppose the answer to that question is that this depends on one's reasons for writing a novel in the first place. Money? Celebrity? A contribution to literary art?

Well FF, it was mostly because I thought I'd have a go at writing a book (ok, it turned into 2 with a third in progress) but it would have been nice to have made a reasonable amount of money from it! So far, I've spent more on the advertising than I've made in royalties. I gave up on the advertising in the summer as, despite 1600 page views / unique users, not one single copy was attributable to that.

Secretly, I'd hoped someone would have contacted me about turning it into a TV series and then I could give up work and write. Dreams....

Thanks for your kind words Padraig, yes my friends have been most encouraging and I will write book 3 and finish the trilogy (although it might turn into a quadrology) but the problem is now with a stressful job I've not had any inclination to continue the story. Life gets in the way!

[smittims]

There are many novelists whose first two or three novels sold poorly, but when a later novel had big sales,the early novels started selling better too. This happened to Virginia Woolf , for instance.

A curious thing I've noticed is that later, successful (in terms of sales and readership) novels tend to be disparaged by critics. Virginia's The Years, Conrad's Chance, and Turgenev's Virgin Soil all had noticeably better sales than their earlier books but have a poor critical reputation. They're all favourite 're-reads' of mine.

[Padraig]

I suppose the answer to that question is that this depends on one's reasons for writing a novel in the first place. Money? Celebrity? A contribution to literary art?

Whatever the reason the desired result is never guaranteed - unless maybe one is already a respected author. Condolences Jonathan. I assume a contribution to literary art is your reason, and if I ever have an urge to write a novel that would be my reason too. But I know that I have neither the courage nor the ability to enter the fray, so I will never face the frustration you have experienced.
On the other hand I expect that you will have received encouragement and appreciation from your friends. If I were you I would value that, and it might encourage me to try again.

[french frank]

After my latest royalties from the sales of both of my novels, I am beginning to wonder why I bothered.

I suppose the answer to that question is that this depends on one's reasons for writing a novel in the first place. Money? Celebrity? A contribution to literary art?

[Jonathan]

After my latest royalties from the sales of both of my novels, I am beginning to wonder why I bothered.

[Ian Thumwood]

I am reading Claudia Pineiro's 'A crack in the wall' which was featured this year on Radio 4's ' A good read.'

Picking up on Frank's comment about creating a believable universe, I would add that I feel great literature also needs excellent dialogue and an understanding of how people feel.and react. This is the second book of hers that I have read. In this book, the main protagonist is an architect who we learn in the first chapter was involved in the death of a neighbour whose flat was next to the architect's latest project. The plot centres around responsibility for a crack in the wall of the apartment which appears to have resulted from the omission of underpinning from the design of the adjacent project.

The novel centres around the risk of discovery and how the principle character copes with this whilst his family life unravels. I find the behaviour of the characters very convincing and the author's ability to understand male sensuality is really observant. I am about two thirds through and there is already a twist in the tale which transforms how you feel about the victim in the story. The quality of writing is exceptional....
not really Crime Novel but a novel about how crime is perceived and it's social consequences.

[smittims]

',,, his creation of an entire believable universe'.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

Is the best thing knowing where to draw the line between escapism and analogy? We will never have to live in Elsinore, but its fictional story can teach us lessons about today.

I don't know if it's escapism but I return more and more to old favourites. I've just started re-reading Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope's delightful portrayal of what today would be called a 'dysfunctional' family in their Westmorland mansion. His characters are so real I'd love to have known them personally.

[Serial_Apologist]

... what's wrong with disillusionment? Surely the overcoming of illusions is the way to wisdom



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In a literal sense, yes, but not as generally used.

[vinteuil]

The reasons for which I would always argue are not so difficult to figure out without either resorting to disillusionment with, or generalisations, about "human nature".

... what's wrong with disillusionment? Surely the overcoming of illusions is the way to wisdom



.

[Serial_Apologist]

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am

Who could possibly have thought otherwise!

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am (as I only manage a few pages at a time). I was struck by two quotes on the same page (Sept 19th): "...the power of a great poet who, out of the worlds of truth and falsehood, creates a third whose borrowed existence enchants us." I found the idea of a writer creating an entire world which engages the reader's attention by mixing real life experience and invention very wise. One of the things Proust is admired for is his creation of an entire believable universe.

More topically: "One gets small thanks from people when one tries to improve their moral values, to give them a higher conception of themselves and a sense of the truly noble. But if one flatters the "birds" with lies, tells them fairy tales, caters daily to their weaknesses, then one is their man."
Verb. sap. sat.

The reasons for which I would always argue are not so difficult to figure out without either resorting to disillusionment with, or generalisations, about "human nature".

[french frank]

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am (as I only manage a few pages at a time). I was struck by two quotes on the same page (Sept 19th): "...the power of a great poet who, out of the worlds of truth and falsehood, creates a third whose borrowed existence enchants us." I found the idea of a writer creating an entire world which engages the reader's attention by mixing real life experience and invention very wise. One of the things Proust is admired for is his creation of an entire believable universe.

More topically: "One gets small thanks from people when one tries to improve their moral values, to give them a higher conception of themselves and a sense of the truly noble. But if one flatters the "birds" with lies, tells them fairy tales, caters daily to their weaknesses, then one is their man."
Verb. sap. sat.

[smittims]

That looks like the sort of book we need more of. I hope it sells well. I hope the days are log gone when one used to meet people who were proud of knowing nothing about the technical side of msuic. I've always found the more I know the more I enjoy it.