Elements of fiction
A monthly series of mini-lectures on literary techniques in which John Mullan, senior lecturer in English at University College London, analysed a notable novel available in paperback
The child in time
Ian McEwan on his family's astonishing story and the brother he never knew he had
'The crocodile is in the clock'
'Automatic writing' was central to the early surrealist movement. Blake Morrison picks up a pen and gives it a try.
He said, she said
John Mullan analyses a notable paperback novel. This month he is looking at Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. Week four: free direct speech.
Light fantastic
John Mullan analyses Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. Week three: magical realism.
The name game
John Mullan analyses Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. Week two: the author in the work.
Fruitful to the original
John Mullan analyses Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. Week one: malapropisms.
As strange as a simile
John Mullan analyses Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Week four: comparative constructions.
Parents not required
John Mullan analyses Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Week three: orphans.
Fancy that
John Mullan analyses Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Week two: fantasy.
The jonquil sky
John Mullan analyses Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Week one: poetic prose.
Thanks for the lift
John Mullan analyses The Master by Colm Tóibín. Week four: acknowledgments.
Heavy on the source
John Mullan analyses The Master by Colm Tóibín. Week three: biographical fiction.
Back, not forwards
John Mullan analyses The Master by Colm Tóibín. Week two: flashbacks.
What Henry knew
John Mullan analyses The Master by Colm Tóibín. Week one: a character's thoughts.
Scaffolding not provided
John Mullan analyses Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Week four: narrative structure.
Savagery upon a forlorn strand
John Mullan analyses Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Week three: antique prose.
Hidden links
John Mullan analyses Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Week two: the multi-genre novel.
Words o' knowin'
John Mullan analyses Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Week one: oral narrative.
Funny business
John Mullan analyses The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe. Week four: the comic novel.
The story within
John Mullan analyses Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club. Week three: inset narratives.
About 65 results for Elements of fiction