Aspects of the Novel

Aspects of the novel     by E. M. Forrester    Many years ago, this was a bible for writers.        A good novel, is what this book tries to help deliver.  Time and space are the active ingredients, while he points out the difference between a good novel and a great novel.  It is humbling to read, but essential to the writer, to learn , how characters can be developed subtly,  how a story can have ragged ends, and more.  The greatness of War and Peace, Forrester points out is not only its sense of time but its sense of space, ( a great swath of space is covered in the novel).  I am reading it probably for the third time, maybe it will eventually rub off on me.  My first book is Secrets of the Heart.

 My book plays with time, as the main character, who lies dying in her hospital bed, alternates between time on earth and time visiting with departed friends, who are awaiting her coming arrival, in the next dimension.   The characters share the pain, joy and trial of their lives, while learning their pupose of life on earth, and ever lasting love.   Time the unseen and unknown dimension for such a long , long time, is becoming more important to us, as we realize we can pause it, expand it , recall it, and dream it for the future, making it malleable.