Read Online Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers by James W. Hall - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: James W. Hall
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books try to imagine what might have gone on backstage at the scenes of celebrated events, then they tantalize us with half-truths and gradually weaken our resistance with allegations that are impossible to disprove and spread themselves virally among us with their provocative and outlandish claims.
When the target of such feverish accusations is a once omnipotent but now weakened entity, like the modern-day Catholic Church, whose followers make up a quarter of the population, a strong reaction is guaranteed.
The hullabaloo and polarizing debate that erupted after Dan Brown’s novel was published set staunch defenders of the church in passionate opposition to legions of cynics and nonbelievers who were happy to finally see their own grievances, doubts, and prejudices portrayed so entertainingly. A killer monk. A two-thousand-year-old conspiracy. Sexual rituals. Yes, yes, I knew it must be happening!
In the face of this awesome display of provocative storytelling, we can do nothing but bow in awe and kiss the ring of the holy mother of all hot buttons.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED AND
WHAT’S COMING NEXT
So popular novels are fast and they appeal unapologetically to the baser emotions. Now we also know a few key devices and tricks of the trade that authors have used to hook us and keep us hooked. These stories grip us by using an intriguing high-concept premise, and their speed is enhanced by accessible prose, by pressures of time, by the use of unrelenting suspense, and by favoring action over interior monologues. Matters of the heart dominate. Our heroes and heroines are passionate in their devotion to some cause and act boldly to achieve their ends. Their passion grows hotter as the original premise grows more complex and their challenges become more difficult to overcome. And all of these stories explore some hot-button social issue of their day that is rooted in a long-term national dispute.
Next we will turn to considerations of substance. As we’re flying through the pages of bestsellers, gulping down thiscomfort food, some might want to know: Is it possible that something that tastes this good and goes down so easily can actually be nourishing?
The chapters that follow take on this question, but I can provide the one-word answer now. Yes.
FEATURE #3
The Big Picture
The United States … has already reached the foremost rank among nations, and is destined soon to outdistance all others in the race. In population, in wealth, in annual savings, and in public credit; in freedom from debt, in agriculture, and in manufactures, America already leads the civilized world.
— ANDREW CARNEGIE,
TRIUMPHANT DEMOCRACY
, 1886
Colossal characters doing magnificent things on a sweeping stage
.
F rom its earliest days, the novel portrayed individuals struggling against the large and indifferent machinery of class and racial prejudice and social injustice. Over the last two centuries of the novel’s existence, most of the successful literary characters have been more than simple individuals; they have been men and women who were embodiments of their age.
Most of the great American masterpieces like
Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn
,
Moby-Dick
,
The Age of Innocence
,
My Ántonia
,
The Great Gatsby
,
The Grapes of Wrath
,
The Invisible Man
,
From Here to Eternity
, and
Native Son
tend to have a sociological orientation—they are more likely to be stories about the ways in which men and women work out their destinies within large groups and communities rather than alone.
Again and again, American bestsellers depict the broad affairs and actions of men, their customs, their beliefs, placing their heroes and heroines on expansive historical or social stages, rather than focusing on the finer calibrations of their thoughts and the subtle renderings of their emotions and consciousness.
As a purely practical matter, just as there is a seesaw effect between action and characterization in most novels (as one goes up, the other
When the target of such feverish accusations is a once omnipotent but now weakened entity, like the modern-day Catholic Church, whose followers make up a quarter of the population, a strong reaction is guaranteed.
The hullabaloo and polarizing debate that erupted after Dan Brown’s novel was published set staunch defenders of the church in passionate opposition to legions of cynics and nonbelievers who were happy to finally see their own grievances, doubts, and prejudices portrayed so entertainingly. A killer monk. A two-thousand-year-old conspiracy. Sexual rituals. Yes, yes, I knew it must be happening!
In the face of this awesome display of provocative storytelling, we can do nothing but bow in awe and kiss the ring of the holy mother of all hot buttons.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED AND
WHAT’S COMING NEXT
So popular novels are fast and they appeal unapologetically to the baser emotions. Now we also know a few key devices and tricks of the trade that authors have used to hook us and keep us hooked. These stories grip us by using an intriguing high-concept premise, and their speed is enhanced by accessible prose, by pressures of time, by the use of unrelenting suspense, and by favoring action over interior monologues. Matters of the heart dominate. Our heroes and heroines are passionate in their devotion to some cause and act boldly to achieve their ends. Their passion grows hotter as the original premise grows more complex and their challenges become more difficult to overcome. And all of these stories explore some hot-button social issue of their day that is rooted in a long-term national dispute.
Next we will turn to considerations of substance. As we’re flying through the pages of bestsellers, gulping down thiscomfort food, some might want to know: Is it possible that something that tastes this good and goes down so easily can actually be nourishing?
The chapters that follow take on this question, but I can provide the one-word answer now. Yes.
FEATURE #3
The Big Picture
The United States … has already reached the foremost rank among nations, and is destined soon to outdistance all others in the race. In population, in wealth, in annual savings, and in public credit; in freedom from debt, in agriculture, and in manufactures, America already leads the civilized world.
— ANDREW CARNEGIE,
TRIUMPHANT DEMOCRACY
, 1886
Colossal characters doing magnificent things on a sweeping stage
.
F rom its earliest days, the novel portrayed individuals struggling against the large and indifferent machinery of class and racial prejudice and social injustice. Over the last two centuries of the novel’s existence, most of the successful literary characters have been more than simple individuals; they have been men and women who were embodiments of their age.
Most of the great American masterpieces like
Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn
,
Moby-Dick
,
The Age of Innocence
,
My Ántonia
,
The Great Gatsby
,
The Grapes of Wrath
,
The Invisible Man
,
From Here to Eternity
, and
Native Son
tend to have a sociological orientation—they are more likely to be stories about the ways in which men and women work out their destinies within large groups and communities rather than alone.
Again and again, American bestsellers depict the broad affairs and actions of men, their customs, their beliefs, placing their heroes and heroines on expansive historical or social stages, rather than focusing on the finer calibrations of their thoughts and the subtle renderings of their emotions and consciousness.
As a purely practical matter, just as there is a seesaw effect between action and characterization in most novels (as one goes up, the other
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