How to Write Like Tolstoy: A Journey Into the Minds of Our Greatest Writers

ISBN-13: 9780812987737 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 352 str.

Richard Cohen

Opis

For anyone who has ever identified with a hero or heroine, been seduced by a strong opening sentence, or been powerfully moved by a story s end, How to Write Like Tolstoyis a thought-provoking journeyinside the minds of the world s most accomplished storytellers, from Shakespeare to Stephen King.
I have tried, as far as possible using the words of the authors themselves, to explain their craft, aiming to take readers on a journey into the concerns, techniques, tricks, flaws, and, occasionally, obsessions of our most luminous writers. from the Preface
Behind every acclaimed work of literature is a trove of heartfelt decisions. The best authors put painstaking sometimes obsessive effort into each element of their stories, from plot and character development to dialogue and point of view.
What made Nabokov choose the name Lolita? Why did Fitzgerald use first-person narration inThe Great Gatsby? How did Kerouac, who raged against revision, finally come to reviseOn the Road?Veteran editor and teacher RichardCohen draws on his vast reservoir of a lifetime s reading and his insight into what makes good prose soar. Here are Gabriel Garcia Marquez s thoughts on how to start a novel ( In the first paragraph you solve most of the problems with your book ); Virginia Woolf offering her definition of style ( It is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can t use the wrong words ); and Vladimir Nabokov on the nature of fiction ( All great novels are great fairy tales ).
Cohen has researched the published works and private utterances of our greatest authors to discover the elements that made their prose memorable. The result is a unique exploration of the act and art of writing that enriches our experience of reading both the classics and the best modern fiction. Evoking the marvelous, the famous, and the irreverent, he reveals the challenges that even the greatest writers faced and shows us how they surmounted them.
Praise for How to Write Like Tolstoy
The highest compliment one can pay How to Write Like Tolstoy is that it provokes an overwhelming urge to read and write, to be in dialogue or even doomed competition with the greatest creative minds . . . . That Mr. Cohen is an editor, that his love of literature comes in large part from awe in the presence of better writers than he, is no small matter. His love is infectious, and regardless of how well he ends up teaching us to write, that is miracle enough. Wall Street Journal
This book is a wry, critical friend to both writer and reader. It is filled with cogent examples and provoking statements. You will agree or quarrel with each page, and be a sharper writer and reader by the end. Hilary Mantel
These twelve essays are like twelve perfect university lectures on the craft of writing fiction. The professor or, in this case, author succeeds in being not only knowledgeable but also interesting, charming, and engaging. Library Journal (starred review)
Insightful . . . Cohen] escorts his readers to Iris Murdoch for sage counsel on launching a novel, to Salman Rushdie for shrewd guidance on developing an unreliable narrator, to Rudyard Kipling for a cagey hint on creating memorable minor characters, and to Leo Tolstoy for a master s help in transforming personal experience into fictional art. Booklist

Lush and instructive . . . Cohen] is a generous tour guide through his literary world. Kirkus Reviews From the Hardcover edition."

Recenzje

The highest compliment one can pay How to Write Like Tolstoy is that it provokes an overwhelming urge to read and write, to be in dialogue or even doomed competition with the greatest creative minds . . . .  That Mr. Cohen is an editor, that his love of literature comes in large part from awe in the presence of better writers than he, is no small matter. His love is infectious, and regardless of how well he ends up teaching us to write, that is miracle enough. Wall Street Journal

[A] perfect tasting menu . . . the homage of a passionate reader to the writers who have provided his main pastime. The Sunday Times (U.K.)

This book is a wry, critical friend to both writer and reader. It is filled with cogent examples and provoking statements. You will agree or quarrel with each page, and be a sharper writer and reader by the end. Hilary Mantel

These twelve essays are like twelve perfect university lectures on the craft of writing fiction. The professor or, in this case, author succeeds in being not only knowledgeable but also interesting, charming, and engaging. . . . [Richard] Cohen reveals the possibilities that lie in wait when authors practice selection and intention, sparking the literary imagination. Library Journal (starred review)

Insightful . . . [Cohen] escorts his readers to Iris Murdoch for sage counsel on launching a novel, to Salman Rushdie for shrewd guidance on developing an unreliable narrator, to Rudyard Kipling for a cagey hint on creating memorable minor characters, and to Leo Tolstoy for a master s help in transforming personal experience into fictional art. Even readers with no intentions of writing a novel will relish the opportunity to join their favorite authors at the workbench. Booklist

An elegant, chatty how-to book on writing well, using the lessons of many of the world s best writers . . . [Cohen] draws on plentiful advice from past and present literary titans. . . . The process of gathering advice from prominent contemporary authors such as Francine Prose, Jonathan Franzen, and Nick Hornby gives Cohen the opportunity to tell any number of amusing, often discursive stories about great literature and authors, mixed with the writers own observations. Publishers Weekly

Lush and instructive . . . [Cohen] is a generous tour guide through his literary world. Kirkus Reviews

O autorze

Richard Cohen is the former publishing director of Hutchinson and Hodder & Stoughton and the founder of Richard Cohen Books. The author of By the Sword and Chasing the Sun, he has written for The New York Times and most leading London newspapers, and appeared on BBC radio and television.