NOVELISTS ON THE NOVEL

An excerpt from the beginning of:

INTRODUCTION

I The Novel and the Marvellous
THERE is plenty of support from other novelists for Hardy's account of the 'real, if unavowed, purpose of fiction'—that is, 'to give pleasure by gratifying the love of the uncommon in human experience'—and for his argument that this purpose will be best realized when the novelist persuades the reader of the 'truth' of his characters. The novelist's natural desire to indulge our sense of wonder is modified by his kno...