Forms of the Novella: Ten Short Novels

by Richter

832 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Imlac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect supplement to Mary Doyle Springer's pioneering Forms of the Modern Novella. Richter, who acknowledges Springer's work, provides a somewhat clearer and simpler framework for analyzing novellas, founded on Springer's basic structure.

He divides novellas into two basic forms:

I. Mimetic
II. Didactic

Mimetic corresponds to Springer's Action, in which the plot reveals a character or shows the character in the process of learning. It focuses on the world within the fiction.

Didactic corresponds to Springer's Apologue and Satire, where the focus is on the world outside the fiction, either teaching the reader something about it (Apologue), or else mocking an aspect of it (Satire).

The bulk of the book consists of ten novellas which the reader can profitably analyze in terms of the provided framework:

Nikolai Gogol The Overcoat
Herman Melville Billy Budd, Sailor
Henry James The Aspern Papers
Kate Chopin The Awakening
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
James Joyce The Dead
Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis
D. H. Lawrence St. Mawr
Katherine Anne Porter Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Thomas Pynchon The Crying of Lot 49

The Teacher's Edition of the book contains substantial critical analyses of each novella; these are definitely illuminating and highly recommended.

[Clifford Wollum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent the whole month reading Forms of the Novella 833 pages.