Description
Book SynopsisFiction, far from being the opposite of truth, is wholly bent on finding it out, and writing novels is a way to know the real world as objectively as possible. This book develops this idea through readings of works by Flaubert, James, and Nabokov.
Trade Review"If her Readings at the Edge of Literature did not reveal Jehlen as a formidable critic, this study of five novels should. The book defies easy categorization as it probes and interrogates reality and its truths."--Choice "Five Fictions in Search of Truth is wise to attend to writers' confrontations with reality, since such moments, once give a form as style, afford readers an unequaled perspective on truths that never quite seem to be overcome by prevailing skepticism and disbelief."--Larry T. Shillock, Bloomsbury Review
Table of ContentsPROLOGUE: A Real Madeleine Is a Work of Art 1 CHAPTER ONE: Salammbo: Three Rough Stones beneath a Rainy Sky 13 CHAPTER TWO: The Sacred Fount: The Case of the Man Who Suddenly Grew Smart 47 CHAPTER THREE: The Ambassadors: What He Saw Was Exactly the Right Thing 71 CHAPTER FOUR: Lolita: A Beautiful, Banal, Eden-Red Apple 103 CHAPTER FIVE: A Simple Heart: Felicite and the Holy Parrot 133 Acknowledgments 145 Notes 147 Index 167
