Book Blogger Hop No. 86: Novel Beginnings: Fast or Slow?

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This Week's Question

When you start reading a novel, do

you prefer to be plunged right 

into the action, or do you prefer a

slower, more descriptive

introduction to the plot

and characters?

(Submitted  by Maria @ 

A Night's Dream of Books)

My Answer

In the past few years, I've become a very eclectic reader. From reading mostly classics, adult fantasy, and science fiction books, I've gone to mostly reading YA Fiction, which includes fantasy and science fiction, as well as paranormal romance and urban fantasy. I've also added historical and contemporary adult romance to my collection of books read.

All of the above genres have different characteristics, but there are two basic approaches authors take when beginning a narrative. I would have to say that I enjoy them both.

When reading YA Fiction, as well as other types of popular genre fiction, I do enjoy the style that plunges the reader right into the action. However, I also have a pet peeve regarding this technique. There are writers who will start off their novels with a bang, in the middle of the story, and then throw in a lot of flashbacks, with a lot of information dumping. This I certainly do NOT like. I think it takes away from the total enjoyment of the book.

On the other hand, I love how classics and literary fiction gently ease you into the story. I know there are some readers who don't like this approach, as they find it tedious and boring. I love it, though. I love poetic prose writing. I love descriptions of natural scenes or bustling city neighborhoods. It's very important to me to encounter a vivid setting, and that's what these types of novels provide. Of course, the popular genre novels also provide vivid settings, but they do so in a prose style that's much more immediate.

My selection of reading material will also depend on my mood at the time. If I want to just enjoy a light read, then I'll go with "the fast approach". If, on the other hand, I'm in the mood to indulge my brain and senses in some beautiful, descriptive, lyrical prose, then I'll go with the more leisurely approach.

One of the most important characteristics of classics and literary fiction is that the prose style is just as important as the plot and characters. It's the masterful use of language that I enjoy -- the skillful use of similes, metaphors, the flow, the music of the words.....

In both styles of writing -- the fast and the more leisurely -- a reader can find great plots and characters. Absolutely! These styles are very different, but yet, they can be equally enjoyable.


I guess I must confess to being torn between the two styles.....

 
Here's an example of an introduction from my favorite classic novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë.

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning, but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought clouds with it so somber, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes...." (from Chapter 1)

There is such beauty in these sentences! I love the flowing, musical cadences. I love the way the author -- a great master -- lets you feel the young Jane's feelings as she describes, in a melancholy tone, just how dreary her afternoons at her aunt's residence are. We gradually get to know this precocious young girl, as she deals with her feelings of utter loneliness.

 
Here's the introduction to another of my favorite novels -- this time, Trinity Stones, by L.G. O'Connor. This is an adult urban fantasy novel. Although there's a preface, which is titled "Prelude", and is a slower-paced introduction, Chapter I jumps right in.

"One year later....

New York City, Wednesday, March 19, 7:30 AM EDT

"Heal me," he whispered.

What?

Cara ignored the man with the V-shaped scar on his cheek, who was pressed up against her side in the fast-moving subway car. With her face half-hidden behind a curtain of auburn waves, she continued to scroll through the e-mail on her work phone. Taking half a step away, she tried to create some distance between them.

The car banked hard to the left, a metallic squeal of brakes echoing off the tunnel walls as the train barreled around a turn. Cara swayed under the weight of the briefcase slung over her shoulder and shifted back into the man." (from Chapter I)

In this second example, the reader is thrust right into the story. Something is definitely going on between the protagonist, Cara, and this weird guy on the subway. The images are vivid, reminding me of swift cinematic shots. Cara is clearly uncomfortable in this situation, as she's pressed too close to this man, who is requesting healing from her.  Why would this stranger ask her for such an absurd thing, in the middle of a crowded subway car?

As in the opening from the novel Jane Eyre, we are feeling the protagonist's feelings right along with her. The style, however, is much more immediate, and our imagination shifts quickly back and forth between Cara, whom we have just met, and the stranger who is making the very unusual request.

The O'Connor novel is full of action, and the characterizations are awesome. The Brontë novel is, of course, full of wonderful characterizations, too, and it has the added dimension of the beautiful prose style.

The question is this: is one style better than the other? According to literary critics, the slower-paced, more flowing literary fiction style is vastly superior to the more immediate, action-and-image-packed style of popular genres. But, when you ask readers, do they find each equally enjoyable, perhaps depending on their moods? In the case of this reader, the answer is a strong affirmative.

I can only speak for myself, however. Not all readers will agree with me. In the case of literary fiction, I must admit that novels in this genre are not usually as easy to understand as those in the popular genres. They do require some type of effort on the part of a reader. I enjoy reading such novels, though, (with the marked exception of such experimental novels as Ulysses, by James Joyce) because to me, delving deeply into such a work is actually an enjoyable activity.

In short, I find that both narrative styles can be equally rewarding, and can pull me into a book, depending on my mood at the time.

What are your thoughts on

this topic?

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