Suggestions from The Story Merchant
Discover essential reading with The Story Merchant's curated book suggestions, featuring Edward Morgan Forster's *Aspects of the Novel* and insightful works on moral fiction—perfect for writers and literary enthusiasts seeking craft and storytelling wisdom.
Book
Aspects of the Novel
by Edward Morgan Forster
A highly original and intelligent investigation of the novel from celebrated writer and "gentle genius" E. M. Forster E. M. Forster's renowned guide to writing sparkles with wit and insight for contemporary writers and readers. With lively language and excerpts from well-known classics, Forster takes on the seven elements vital to a novel: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm. He not only defines and explains such terms as "round" versus "flat" characters (and why both are needed for an effective novel), but also provides examples of writing from such literary greats as Dickens and Austen. Forster's original commentary illuminates and entertains without lapsing into complicated, scholarly rhetoric, coming together in a key volume on writing that avoids chronology and what he calls "pseudoscholarship."