{"id":140207,"date":"2019-10-15T13:11:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T17:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=140207"},"modified":"2019-10-15T13:39:18","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T17:39:18","slug":"redux-what-you-usually-find-in-novels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/10\/15\/redux-what-you-usually-find-in-novels\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: What You Usually Find in Novels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Illustration of E.\u2009M. Forster by William P\u00e8ne du Bois.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week,\u00a0as always, we\u2019re thinking about the novel. Read on for our very first Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, with E.\u2009M. Forster; a previously unpublished Anton Chekhov short story called \u201cWhat You Usually Find in Novels<\/a>\u201d; and Peg Boyers\u2019s poem\u00a0\u201cOpen Letter to Alberto Moravia<\/a>,\u201d which imagines a missive from Natalia Ginzburg to Moravia.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, and poems, why not\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em>\u00a0and read the entire archive? You\u2019ll also get four new issues of the quarterly delivered straight to your door. And make sure to listen to the\u00a0new trailer<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0The Paris Review Podcast<\/em>\u2014Season 2 premieres October 23!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

E.\u2009M. Forster, The Art of Fiction No. 1<\/a>
\nIssue no. 1 (Spring 1953)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

While we are on the subject of the planning of novels, has a novel ever taken an unexpected direction?<\/p>\n

FORSTER<\/p>\n

Of course, that wonderful thing, a character running away with you\u2014which happens to everyone\u2014that\u2019s happened to me, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Kasharp (CC BY-SA 4.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)). Via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

What You Usually Find in Novels<\/a>
\nBy Anton Chekhov
\nIssue no. 152 (Fall 1999)<\/em><\/p>\n

Accidental overhearing, as a source of great discoveries.<\/p>\n

A huge number of interjections, and of attempts to use technical terms whenever possible.<\/p>\n

Small hints about important circumstances. Very often, no conclusion.<\/p>\n

Seven mortal sins at the beginning, and a wedding at the end.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Pietro Pensa Archive, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Open Letter to Alberto Moravia<\/a>
\nBy Peg Boyers
\nIssue no. 151 (Summer 1999)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear Alberto,<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true: I am a coward. The other night,
\nat dinner, I neglected to tell you how much
\nI detest your latest novel. Had you asked me,
\nI would have found a way to say something not
\nexactly false, but less than true: You\u2019ve done it again!<\/em>
\nA tour de force!<\/em> But your thoughts were already
\nelsewhere \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you like what you read,\u00a0get a year of<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u2014four new issues, plus instant access to everything we\u2019ve ever published.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on E. M. Forster\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Anton Chekhov, and a poem by Peg Boyers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: What You Usually Find in Novels by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on E. M. 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