Beckett was not in thrall to a stifling realism, but surely to *something*
stifling. There are moments in Beckett I find moving, but on the whole he
isn't for me. I should say that there are many realist authors I greatly
admire. To take just one recent example, I think Carol Shields's *The Stone
Diaries* is extraordinary, a rethink of the realist novel and how it can
relate to a human life. Nothing in a way could be more conventional, a
straightforward domestic-life-and-relationships novel, yet it challenges all
those conventions from within, and makes the reader wonder to what extent a
life can ever be considered a single, stylistically unified story.
The trouble I have when writing novels is not so much plot but character. I
find myself wondering what I really know about other people and whether I
dare to invent them. But I'm quite happy to put characters in a poem, where
they can be delineated in a few lines and everyone knows that the portrayal
can't possibly be complete, that it's only a rhetorical device.
Best wishes
Matthew
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 28 July 2001 10:14
Subject: Re: Interview with Matthew Francis (Featured Poet #2, new serie
>Matthew wrote:
>
>>Probably the sense that the novel is in thrall to a stifling realism is a
>>personal hangup of mine (and may also be related to the fact that I don't
>>know many people who like the kind of novels I do).
>
>and I sort of wonder, which novel? How much was Beckett say in thrall to
>stifling realism? (Entirely, perhaps?) Surely a novel can be whatever
>you make it, just as a poem can be. I'm kind of interested in this
>because I'm writing a novel at the moment which seems in thrall to
>something else entirely, and despite my best efforts is refusing all
>attempts at narrative - every time I try to tell the story, my poor
>protagonist (who is dead) changes sex or something or starts off on some
>strange divagation -
>
>on the other hand, who knows if anyone would either read or enjoy it?
>I've no idea. But how much does that count in the writing?
>
>Best
>
>Alison
>
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