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"A Note on the Novel" (1956) Summary and Analysis
In this very brief essay, Gore Vidal asserts that "after 300 years, the novel in English has lost the general reader (or rather the general reader has lost the novel)." That said, it's not the fault of novelists, rather the fault of the audience, which is "an unpleasant accusation to make in a democracy where, ultimately, the taste of the majority is the measure of all things." Vidal reflects that American civilization has come full circle from the Greek mysteries and plays to the printing press and the novel to television and play again. It's as if, he says, the novel was only a stand-in for the drama that used to be limited to theaters. Despite the plethora of "live" plays for television and massive quantities of paperback books, Vidal says these...
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This section contains 244 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
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