{"product_id":"the-lives-of-the-novel-thomas-g-pavel-9780691121895","title":"The Lives of the Novel: A History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA bold new account of the history of the novel, from ancient Greece to the present\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is a bold and original original history of the novel from ancient Greece to the vibrant world of contemporary fiction. In this wide-ranging survey, Thomas Pavel argues that the driving force behind the novel's evolution has been a rivalry between stories that idealize human behavior and those that ridicule and condemn it. Impelled by this conflict, the novel moved from depicting strong souls to sensitive hearts and, finally, to enigmatic psyches. Pavel analyzes more than a hundred novels from Europe, North and South America, Asia, and beyond, resulting in a provocative reinterpretation of its development. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAccording to Pavel, the earliest novels were implausible because their characters were either perfect or villainous. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, novelists strove for greater credibility by describing the inner lives of ideal characters in minute detail (as in Samuel Richardson's case), or by closely examining the historical and social environment (as Walter Scott and Balzac did). Yet the earlier rivalry continued: Henry Fielding held the line against idealism, defending the comic tradition with its flawed characters, while Charlotte Bront  and George Eliot offered a rejoinder to social realism with their idealized vision of strong, generous, and sensitive women. In the twentieth century, modernists like Proust and Joyce sought to move beyond this conflict and capture the enigmatic workings of the psyche. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePavel concludes his compelling account by showing how the old tensions persist even within today's pluralism, as popular novels about heroes coexist with a wealth of other kinds of works, from satire to social and psychological realism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Thomas G. Pavel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691121893\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691121895\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/23\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.40w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e PROSE - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2013 pg. 74","brand":"Thomas G. Pavel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46372305305855,"sku":"9780691121895","price":44.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_fc2b7c8d-3874-489b-a7af-922b294af0dd.jpg?v=1732725581","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-lives-of-the-novel-thomas-g-pavel-9780691121895","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}