places in fiction Archives

The Place of Places in Stories

by evyjourney | posted in: A Writer's Life, Between Two Worlds, Hello My Love | 3

Places in stories can advance plot and show something about a character. Food and eating can (see Delectable Dishes) do the same. In Hello, Greg invites Elise to his house presumably to see him in his “true element.” When … Continued

Book Reviews: Escape Into Reality

Affection Nurtured by Common Suffering: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The title is a line from a 17th-century poem that evokes the beauty and romance of Afghanistan. It seems to conflict with what happens in the story.

Nature as Main Character in Fiction: 2. <em>The Overstory</em>

The Overstory—I didn’t know for sure what the title alluded to when I first encountered this novel by Richard Powers. I interpreted it in terms of the usual conventions about books, especially fiction. I guessed “overstory” referred to an overarching theme, the most important one that subsumes some more obvious sub-themes. You, the reader, must […]