more on "novel"

[Mark A. Mandel]

I sent the thread on "novel" referring to nonfiction to my wife, who replied
as follows (posted here by her permission):
     >>>>>

I've seen it used, too, and I think Jesse Sheidlower is quite right in that
it usually occurs when referring to a non-fiction work that is so compelling
it reads like a good novel - _The Great Escape_ is one, as is _The Longest
Day_ or _The Perfect Storm_. Actually, in general, well written accounts of
war, travels,disasters or other adventures tend to read like that.

However, there is also much to be said for discouraging such confusion. I am
not just concerned about someone who can't distinguish a short story from an
essay from a poem. I am much more concerned about those who deny history. If
you can't distinguish between a novel about the Holocaust and a memoir, and
everything in between (i.e., a survivor choosing to write his memoirs and
those of others as a novel), then how far is it to believing the Holocaust
itself is fiction?

  <<<<<

-- Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]

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