Tragedy, comedy and an Italian parable

John Self

IT’S SOMETIMES SAID THAT THE DIFFERENCE between a short story and a novel is that a story contains a moment — often a moment of change for the protagonist — while a novel has a broader sweep. Certainly stories which try to do more can feel cramped and airless (allowing exceptions for genius, such as Borges), and novels that restrict themselves to a single moment tend to try the reader’s patience by shrinking to internal inaction. But what a novel can do is capture a moment of change for a society, and that is what the three novels in this month’s column seek to achieve, with great success. David Peace is one of the most distinctive, and distinguished, British novelists now writing. His work blends interest in the fabric of…

You're reading a preview of

The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.