Unregistered
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
In modern novels the point is to describe, but also to tell a story in a style literary yet not always formal. In novels like The House of the Seven Gables the author has not only a theme but an analysis of the mind; yet the story is surprising clear. Each paragraph--however long--has only one point, though long description. If one can follow the structure of the sentence (where is the verb? what is being done to it or is doing the action) and check new vocabulary in the dictionary, then one will taste the style of the author, as well as know his meaning. As this is mind analysis, however, the author will quantify his descriptions with contradictions, passages separated by dashes, and metaphors. To find the meaning of sentences with these features one should think well of its relation to the main sentence, and see how these passages add to or tell more precisely the meaning. The characters are very important in the novel, and how they feel--that is the reason for many of the long descriptions. Thus you can only like the novel in itself, and if not, then at least have read famous literature.