tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post7817770156975614958..comments2024-03-27T13:13:25.164-04:00Comments on johnshaplin: The Pleasures of Reading by Robert Alterjohnshaplinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post-80565159472029875782010-07-01T16:24:34.338-04:002010-07-01T16:24:34.338-04:00In his chapter on Perspective, the author examines...In his chapter on Perspective, the author examines several distinctive narrative forms deployed in novels – figural, analytical, psycho-narration and narrative monologue- their historical antecedents, the different effects they are able to achieve, and how they are often intertwined in the same passages of text. His use of a passage near the end of Joseph Conrad's “The Secret Agent” ( When Mrs. Verloc goes after her husband with a knife) is especially pleasing. He rewrites the passage in all four forms as a way illustrating the careful balance and flow that Conrad achieved in that particular instance, certainly one of the great “tours de force” of modern fiction and literary analysis. All of his examples are delightful.<br /><br />The Pleasure of Reading in an Ideological Age by Robert Alter ; Simon and Schuster, N.Y., 1989johnshaplinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.com