Franco Moretti (1) (1950–)

I read this because of being involved with a few projects using distant reading techniques. I found the graphs and trees sections engaging approaches to the rise and fall of the novel and the diversification of genres. The maps section I found less interesting, possibly because I was mostly unfamiliar with the example texts.

The weakness, from my viewpoint working in visualization, was the actual graphs, maps, and trees as presented on paper. Having recently read W. Cleveland, banking to 45 show more degrees was on my mind. The dramatic effect of the explosion of the novel in various locations is perhaps entirely due to the aspect ratio of the charts. The maps looked more like random PowerPoint mind-maps than anything. Some of the trees were scrunched to fit the page which affected my initial reading of them. show less

I wish I had read this before all the other mapping theory, not last. It suffers a bit in comparison, and comes off as a little bit on the cozy side. Which is fine, but I was hoping for a slightly more radical thesis than 19th-century village novels and detective stories. Still, I liked the Trees chapter for its absolute elegance... or maybe because Moretti invoked Charles Darwin's Tree of Life.

I want to get through this, and I want to write an informative review. Of course, it's almost 1000 pages long, so I decided to break it into three bits and update the review.

Part 1: 'The Long Duration,' 'Writing Prose.'

Two immediate problems: the translators must have been working under time constraints, because the essays written originally in not-English are unreadable. Alternatively, the original is unreadable. Quite possible, as we are dealing with contemporary literary critics. show more Second, the essays are impossibly hip and trendy. Heliodorus of Emesa (an ancient Greek 'novelist') gets plenty of ink in these early sections - more than Cervantes even. Does anyone care about ancient Greek 'novels,' outside of classicists and literary scholars? Probably not.

By far the best essay of these opening section is Pavel's 'Historical Morphology.' Despite its title, it is quite readable, an informative analysis of the history of the novel as an investigation of the individual's place in the world, and 'morality' in the broadest possible sense. Fusillo discusses the relation between novel and epic (a topic close to my heart) in the most tortuous, jargon-ridden prose this side of the narratologists who apparently influenced and or taught him. Thorel-Cailleteau discusses the novel's formal characteristics in relation to its 'thematics,' that is, what the novel tends to be about. Not bad. Jameson's 'Experiments of Time' is an anatomy of happy endings. It isn't really up to his usual standard, but his argument that a happy ending might be an indictment of the contemporary world, rather than assimilation to it, is fun.

The 'Readings' within 'The Long Duration' deal with various prototypes: the realist novel (Heliodorus, of course); Maqamat; the picaresque (Lazarillo); the romance (Le Grand Cyrus); the epistolary novel (Persian Letters); the historical novel (Waverley); the serial novel (The Mysteries of Paris); science fiction (War of the Worlds); and magical realism (The Kingdom of This World). The readings of the ubiquitous Heliodorus, Lazaro, and Eugene Sue are best skipped. I knew nothing about Maqamat, a medieval arabic fictional form before reading this book, and the essay on it was informative and readable. Thanks to the others, I actually have the desire to read Waverley, PL, and KotW (this latter, though, despite the critic rather than because of him). Imagine that: literary criticism which makes you *want* to read novels!!

The second section is 'Writing Prose,' but the essays aren't as obviously linked as they are in the Long Duration. 'The Prose of the World' is probably the best here, although Eco's reflections on Victor Hugo are worth a laugh. I sense, from the first third of this volume, that the essays will generally be far too long (as is the wont of us academics), poorly written/translated, and occasionally interesting, while the 'Readings' - which were obviously intended to be shorter and actually about books - will be generally more fun and informative. Time will tell. show less

This book gives new and accessible perspectives on 19th century European literature, and I found many of Moretti's points intriguing. The maps he has created are truly phenomenal, and present so much more information than could be described in words. The writing style is precise and smart but informal, and ideas are presented clearly. Much of the book focuses, however, on a relatively small number of books, and while it's not absolutely necessary to have read them, it would probably help - show more my lack of Balzac hurt me a bit, but knowledge of the works discussed isn't crucial. show less