{"product_id":"the-preparation-of-the-novel-roland-barthes-9780231136150","title":"The Preparation of the Novel: Lecture Courses and Seminars at the Collège de France (1978-1979 and 1979-1980)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCompleted just weeks before his death, the lectures in this volume mark a critical juncture in the career of Roland Barthes, in which he declared the intention, deeply felt, to write a novel. Unfolding over the course of two years, Barthes engaged in a unique pedagogical experiment: he combined teaching and writing to \"simulate\" the trial of novel-writing, exploring every step of the creative process along the way. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBarthes's lectures move from the desire to write to the actual decision making, planning, and material act of producing a novel. He meets the difficulty of transitioning from short, concise notations (exemplified by his favorite literary form, haiku) to longer, uninterrupted flows of narrative, and he encounters a number of setbacks. Barthes takes solace in a diverse group of writers, including Dante, whose \u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e was similarly inspired by the death of a loved one, and he turns to classical philosophy, Taoism, and the works of François-René Chateaubriand, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Kafka, and Marcel Proust. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis book uniquely includes eight elliptical plans for Barthes's unwritten novel, which he titled \u003ci\u003eVita Nova\u003c\/i\u003e, and lecture notes that sketch the critic's views on photography. Following on \u003ci\u003eThe Neutral: Lecture Course at the Collège de France (1977-1978)\u003c\/i\u003e and a third forthcoming collection of Barthes lectures, this volume provides an intensely personal account of the labor and love of writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Roland Barthes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0231136153\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231136150\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/20\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 512\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.94lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.90h x 6.90w x 1.00d","brand":"Roland Barthes","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43990115844351,"sku":"9780231136150","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b41b6366-5211-4fa9-9198-7ef2e9619095.jpg?v=1683303084","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-preparation-of-the-novel-roland-barthes-9780231136150","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}