Why do some novels endure for decades or centuries and others burst out as blockbusters then disappear? What makes a great novel, great? Is there a formula? Will J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels stand the test of time? What are some examples of novels that are classics and great?
Whew. I’m not certain that I’m up to writing about great novels, but I want to give it a try. First of all, I believe great novels transcend individual literary taste. A great novel tells a compelling story that applies not only to the individual but the human condition in general. It’s not preachy but has a message or theme that’s clear. Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina’s message is the very first sentence of the novel: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” That begs the question: Are there really any happy families? Tolstoy then proceeds to illustrate this theme in a compelling story of one woman’s struggle to find happiness. He explores human passion, deception, betrayal and loyalty in the stylized society of 19th century Russia, giving the reader a tapestry of the time and culture as well as showing that wealth has nothing to do with happiness.
Character plays an important role in making a novel great. Where would To Kill a Mockingbird be without Atticus Finch, Scout and Jeb? Or Moby Dick without Captain Ahab’s obsession? Or the Harry Potter novels without Voldemort and Dumbledore, Harry, Hermoine, Ron and Draco? The protagonist needs to not only be memorable but flawed, human in a way that most readers can identify with. The antagonist, as important as the protagonist, also needs to be human (when a person), a worthy adversary. Characters develop and change in great novels; and by identifying with them, the reader learns something about people or him/herself.
Great novels respect narrative structure and momentum with clarity and a steady pace. By respect, I mean that the author has given the story a clear structure that serves as a seaworthy vessel in which the reader can journey through the story. Three-act dramatic structure is the most common, but there are others that can be as effective while reflecting the story’s theme or an underlying conflict. The protagonist drives the dramatic momentum forward while the antagonist or other characters try to derail it.
Back in high school, an English teacher told us that there are only four conflicts in literature: human vs. human, human vs. self, human vs. nature, and human vs. God. Oh, but the possibilities contained in each! Great novels have great conflicts. The characters pull in the reader’s emotional involvement, making the conflicts the reader’s also. How people create and resolve conflicts reveals their characters, and it’s the same in great novels.
Memorable settings that reveal the human in the time period of the story and the location help make great novels great. Harper Lee’s Alabama in the 1930’s is an essential element of her story and contributes to characters’ behavior and beliefs. What would Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain be without the physical landscape and the Civil War? The descriptive passages in great novels beg the reader to linger in them and a huge reason is….
Language. Great novels showcase language, challenge the reader as Cormac McCarthy did in The Road. Not much happens in that novel, but his descriptions and the language he uses reveal a great deal about humans and the human condition. The conflicts in that novel are both overt and covert — other people and nature are the overt ones, and fear, hunger, commitment and memory are the covert. The man and boy struggle with each throughout the story. Harper Lee’s language in To Kill a Mockingbird is conversational, a story-telling voice that mimics Scout’s voice but is the adult looking back.
What’s the formula? It is the same for writing any novel, but I think great novelists fear nothing in the writing, especially not emotion. What may set a novel apart could be the emotional element — the characters’ emotions, the conflicts’ emotions, the emotional attachments and identification with the settings and time periods, the beliefs and behaviors with the readers’ emotions. Unfortunately or fortunately, there’s no way to standardize that into a formula.
I’ve intentionally not mentioned book sales…..
Anatomy of Perceval Blog 