The Novel
by James A. Michener
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Fawcett Crest (New York): 1991. Mass-market paperback: 435 pages. ISBN-10: 0-449-22143-1 ISBN-13: 978-0449221433 Suggested retail price: $5.99 (US) Tags: Mainstream; murder; publishing; writing Tactical strength: [6/10] |
Michener provides an interesting and detailed description of the publishing business from the points of view of fictional characters who are pivotal in bringing books to life: the writer, the editor, the critic, and the reader. Through most of the book I was content just to read about the events that each of these main characters went through to get to their position and the feelings they have toward the difficult business of getting a work into print.
The first, and probably the section with the strongest construction, is about a writer. Lucas Yoder, a Mennonite, writes about the people and land of the Pennsylvania Dutch. His first four books bomb miserably, but his fifth book is a bestseller. By his eighth book, which he says is to be his last, Yoder commands huge advances and has initial press runs approchaing a million copies each. Through all of this, Yoder is a quaint, humble man who writes for the art of writing and has little need for the money, most of which he donates to the writing program of the local college. (Some also goes to his wife's college.) From the few biographical facts I know about Michener, this comes very close to portraying Michener's own feelings toward writing and the economics of publishing.
The life of Yoder's editor, Yvonne Marmelle, makes up the next section. Ms. Marmelle gained a voracious appetite for reading at the age of fourteen and knew she needed to work in the publishing business to have a fulfilling life. She got a job as a runner in a publishing house and worked her way up to reading the slushpile, where she discovered Yoder's first novel. She convinces the board to publish the book. It doesn't do well, but in the mean time, she has found and published several other manuscripts that were successful. Marmelle falls in love with a writer who wants to write a book about Viet Nam that will be truly meaningful, but although he works on it, he never manages to complete it. After exhibiting some abusive behavior toward Marmelle, he commits suicide when she leaves him. She continues her work as a successful editor.
The critic Karl Streibert is a young literary genius -- not the genius that can write literature, but the kind that can analyze any written works. He is also a Pennsylvania Dutchman, but soon finds his way to Columbia and Oxford. He falls in love with his mentor, a professor from Oxford, but eventually must end their relationship when the Englishman contracts AIDS. This portion of the story does not have the same depth of feeling of the first two parts. The character is still interesting, but his story and problems are not as gripping as with the first two. This may be due to my personal interests -- a literary critic may find the opposite to be true -- but the strength of the first two parts come from Michener's personal experience, the third is from Michener's observations of critics. Although Michener can powerfully portray people and experiences he never had himself, the stories he tells from his own experience have more power.
The fourth part, about the reader, is the book's great weakness. The character Jane Garland is the rich widow of a corporate giant from the Bethlehem steel industry. She is brought into the story because her grandson, a promising young author named Tim, is studying under Streibert. In an attempt to tie all the parts together, Michener has Tim murdered and all the characters pitch in to solve the case. In addition, Marmelle, who is Streibert's and Tim's editor, is facing a corporate takeover of the publishing house. The murder is solved, the takeover occurs without too many repercussions, and Yoder begins to work on another novel. This last part pales in comparison to the serious and solid sketches of the first three sections. The fourth part seems almost comedic in comparison as the characters run around trying to solve the mystery with threads of their personal problems thrown in.
I still highly recommend The Novel especially to anyone who is interested in writing, editing, or criticism. You probably should even read the fourth section just to see how Michener wraps everything up, but the real meat and power of the book is the first seventy-five percent.
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