---
product_id: 103862038
title: "How Fiction Works"
brand: "james wood"
price: "Rp4835719"
currency: IDR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.id/products/103862038-how-fiction-works
store_origin: ID
region: Indonesia
---

# How Fiction Works

**Brand:** james wood
**Price:** Rp4835719
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** How Fiction Works by james wood
- **How much does it cost?** Rp4835719 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.id](https://www.desertcart.id/products/103862038-how-fiction-works)

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- james wood enthusiasts

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## Description

Full description not available

## Images

![How Fiction Works - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xxyoFvuRL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Quite interesting
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 June 2023*

Quite interesting

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A rocking journey through novel analysis in an entertaining way
  

*by M***N on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2020*

Concise and masterfully distilled take on novel as an art form. Never pretentious, down to concrete examples anyone can enjoy with a multitude of “yes!” and “aha!” it walks through (one narrative of) the history of the novel in a way that leaves something to find for anyone.This is not a tome to be studied for ages, rather like Kurt Cobain or the Sex Pistols would throw irresistible short riffs on aspects of a good novel, which then linger as literary hooks, getting you downloading literary classics to your already overgrown pile of reading, which you will now read with opened eyes.Damn this was good.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Good introduction let down by bad examples
  

*by M***G on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2017*

Overall this is a pretty good introduction to literary criticism and some of the theories behind the analysis of fiction. It's pretty easy to read but I found myself having to look past many of the examples the author gives to illustrate the concept because I felt they were either poor choices or simply incorrect.A couple of examples: in discussing the difficulties authors can face in balancing authorial voice versus character voice he criticises John Updike in his novel Terrorist, for having an 18-year-old Muslim schoolboy specifically cite one of the sura’s in the Qu’ran, when he is ruminating on the state of the world. Wood claims this is unrealistic and in the footnote suggests that its preposterousness is illustrated if we try to imagine a Christian schoolboy citing chapter and verse of a line from the Bible in a similar way. I’m astounded that Wood, a Professor at Harvard, has never encountered the type of Christian who does exactly that!The second example is in discussing the debate about the pros/cons of realism. Apparently Barthes, in his attack on Realism, famously accuses of Flaubert of describing the presence of a barometer as being purely for effect, for having no meaning beyond an attempt at verisimilitude, unlike the symbolism associated with pianos and other objects that are described. But historically, barometers do have symbolism. They, along with telescopes and timepieces, etc. are associated with rationalism and the Enlightenment. I would hope that some literary theorist out there has pointed this out, but if so, they seem to have been ignored, because this seems to have become the example par excellence of description for description’s sake. Perhaps this lack of knowledge is forgivable, but what I find even more amazing is that Wood, Nuttall, Barthes and, by inference, many other literary theorists, don’t actually understand how barometers work! Wood is positively gleeful about how useless they are and how they are only owned by people trying to appear middle-class. You’d think they would make an attempt to find out before revealing their ignorance in print. And no — it does not appear to be being said in irony (p.65-6).There are many other examples like these, and of course, the wider points he is trying illustrate are still valid. However, it definitely makes me question him as being a voice of authority.

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*Product available on Desertcart Indonesia*
*Store origin: ID*
*Last updated: 2026-02-16*