Brian Wicker

I absolutely loved the theory on vertical and horizontal narrative structures and their relation to certain concepts in the first part of the book. The problem is that the second half kind of teetered off and didn't really bring much to the table, and seemed to presuppose the prior reading of an incredibly wide array of novels in order to get its points across.

So in full, the first half outlines some very interesting ideas about narrative metaphor and metaphorical/analogical narrative structure using linguistic theory as its basis. In this half the terms of the theory are laid out very well, and Wicker always explains his terms in a way that is easy to grasp. The second half however may be far better to one who has read the incredibly broad spectrum of novels and plays which it presupposes. If however you have read almost all of the works of Becket, Robbe-Grillet, Mailer, Lawrence, etc. then by all means read part two. If you haven't read these works however, then simply stick to reading part one and feel free to apply the theory outlined in it to future reading, as I intend to do.… (más)