Many authors believe that a good novel is one that depicts the social reality of a given community or society. I can agree because when the novel portrays real life the readers are able to relate and identify with the characters of a story. Fictional authors have grappled with conflicting attitudes toward realism. On one hand, there are naturalists who believe " no picture could be real unless it did justice to the unpleasant side of life." While others find life is not so bad after all and would like more positivity displayed. In real life there is not just a positive and negative side. Actuality is complex there are things in life that happen which are beautiful and other things that happen which are devastating, but real life just is and there are no rules that life will follow. I feel authors should portray both sides for the novel to truly be a good one that is realistic.
Authors will try and make their novels so realistic to readers that they will tell exactly how the characters feels through streams of consciousness and give the inside view through the characters head. This might add insight to what the author wants the reader to believe and feel but it hardly adds to the realism of the novel. Booth sarcastically says at no point does he forget that he is reading a novel. For an author to begin to write a novel worth reading the subject mater, structure, and technique plays a big role in making the the novel worth reading. That is the easy part anyone can study and observe this "unity" and attempt a novel. As Booth points out "like any art, this one cannot be learned from abstract rules."
I think that when the author gives the inside view of a character, it helps the reader to be able to relate that character. So when the character acts a certain way, you know why they are acting that way. That gives a certain realistic view.
ReplyDeleteI think streams of consciousness has its advantages at times. It can be beneficial when a character is thinking about situations in the past that may be relevant to understanding the rest of the story. I also feel a little closer to the character when I am invited into their mind.
ReplyDeleteDo you think realism is part of how the author shows and/or tells? If the author can control what the what the reader is seeing through stream of consciousness and stream of consciousness is a tool used to inspire realism, does that make it a universal form to help authors control their readers?
ReplyDeleteI feel like we're working from a few different definitions of realism (that's appropriate, I suppose--since Booth is in this chapter trying to define the various theoretical bases that determine different approaches to--or versions of--realism).
ReplyDeleteSo, one of the interesting things here is that we can see an aesthetic theory of realism working itself out in miniature in Bridget's post:
In real life there is not just a positive and negative side. Actuality is complex there are things in life that happen which are beautiful and other things that happen which are devastating, but real life just is and there are no rules that life will follow. I feel authors should portray both sides for the novel to truly be a good one that is realistic.
Is this realism of subject matter, realism of structure, or realism of technique? What's the difference between those three kinds of "realisms"??