Realism, and Blood in Books
Plot is a series of choices made by the author which impose artificial form on formless real life experience. This in part is why some object to plot heavy fiction. It seems fake, contrived. Novels that emphasize character seem, on the other hand, closer to life, more natural.
Problem is, the novel is a contrived structure in itself, into which fictional characters must, unlike real people, fit. To some extent there’s a zero sum game at play here. A choice must be made between ‘lifeness’ and the artistic whole. Ian McEwan, sacrifices ‘lifeness’ for unity in Amsterdam. Very neat and tidy, but also, despite some sweet phrasing, an irritating, ultimately unsatisfying read.
So, which characters are truest to life? Those we know best: those who we can most completely relate to, regardless of how fantastical (Ed Champion’s woodpecker come to mind). The essential question to ask: is this fictitious entity relevant to me and my life? Does she encounter or answer important questions that I may have about my life?Am I affected by his situation? In short, is there something of this character alive in me? This surely is the measure of ‘lifeness’ and indeed great fiction: the amount of blood the reader and character share. How relevant the thoughts and actions of one are to the other. How applicable fictional situations are to real life ones.
The more profoundly these situations relate to eachother — the more readers [and the more of them who...] are touched or moved, or entertained or informed or motivated — the greater the work. This is why The Brothers Karamazov is a great work. Its characters grapple with fundamental questions I have about the existence of God, why War and Peace [about Love] and The Red and the Black [Ambition] are too. My blood is in these books.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:43 AM
"The essential question to ask: is this fictitious entity relevant to me and my life?"I don’t know, Nigel: this seems a pretty solipsistic approach to literature!
October 19th, 2008 at 4:38 PM
Well, I think reading is a pretty solipsistic enterprise. We mostly read for our own entertainment and enlightenment…but the point I wanted to make is that I think characters ‘live’ to the extent they touch the reader’s life… If you have experienced an affair that ended abruptly for example… Emma Bovary’s anguish at the garden gate will probably affect you to a greater degree than if you haven’t. So, ‘lifeness’ I think is a function of the degree to which readers can relate their lives to the lives of those depicted in fiction.
October 19th, 2008 at 9:01 PM
I don’t know. Charles Kinbote in "Pale Fire", Oskar Matzerath in "The Tin Drum", Lovelace in "Clarissa" – I hope there isn’t much of these characters in me. Yet these fellows are very much alive to me. Or, for some positive examples, Sam Weller in "The Pickwick Papers", or Eugenie Grandet, or Hadji Murad. The lives of these characters are far, far from mine, and the’re as alive to me as any characters I can think of. I’ve got a lot more of Prince Hal in me than Falstaff, yet it’s Falstaff who, to me, has more "lifeness".
October 20th, 2008 at 9:17 AM
Nice to hear from you AR. These characters’ lives may be far from yours, but I’d say that those who have the biggest impact on you, probably share some trait with a person you know in real life… or perhaps trigger memories of painful or pleasant experiences you’ve had. Falstaff may have more ‘lifeness’, may be more full of life than Hal, but who do you connect with more profoundly?
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:40 PM
Maybe Falstaff triggers memories of pleasant experiences I wish I’d had! I’m going to go have a glass of sack.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:15 AM
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