Review: Alison, Meander Spiral Explode (2019)

[truepenny]

Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book looking at alternatives to Aristotle, which I'm always in favor of. (Aristotle, in this case, being the Poetics and the rising action-climax-falling action pattern that we're taught to expect our narratives to take.) Alison looks at narratives in the traditional wave form to start with, but spends most of the book looking at other ways of putting a text together.

I enjoy reading people analyzing books they love (and Alison's enthusiasm for her examples is very clear), so I found this book pleasant to read, even though the books she's discussing are probably not books I myself will ever want to read. And it is interesting to get away from Aristotelian precepts and see other ways to do things.



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Comments

[larryhammer]

This sounds like something I want to check out. Thanks!