I want to get through this, and I want to write an informative review. Of course, it's almost 1000 pages long, so I decided to break it into three bits and update the review.

Part 1: 'The Long Duration,' 'Writing Prose.'

Two immediate problems: the translators must have been working under time constraints, because the essays written originally in not-English are unreadable. Alternatively, the original is unreadable. Quite possible, as we are dealing with contemporary literary critics. Second, the essays are impossibly hip and trendy. Heliodorus of Emesa (an ancient Greek 'novelist') gets plenty of ink in these early sections - more than Cervantes even. Does anyone care about ancient Greek 'novels,' outside of classicists and literary scholars? Probably not.

By far the best essay of these opening section is Pavel's 'Historical Morphology.' Despite its title, it is quite readable, an informative analysis of the history of the novel as an investigation of the individual's place in the world, and 'morality' in the broadest possible sense. Fusillo discusses the relation between novel and epic (a topic close to my heart) in the most tortuous, jargon-ridden prose this side of the narratologists who apparently influenced and or taught him. Thorel-Cailleteau discusses the novel's formal characteristics in relation to its 'thematics,' that is, what the novel tends to be about. Not bad. Jameson's 'Experiments of Time' is an anatomy of happy endings. It isn't really up to his usual standard, but his argument that a happy ending might be an indictment of the contemporary world, rather than assimilation to it, is fun.

The 'Readings' within 'The Long Duration' deal with various prototypes: the realist novel (Heliodorus, of course); Maqamat; the picaresque (Lazarillo); the romance (Le Grand Cyrus); the epistolary novel (Persian Letters); the historical novel (Waverley); the serial novel (The Mysteries of Paris); science fiction (War of the Worlds); and magical realism (The Kingdom of This World). The readings of the ubiquitous Heliodorus, Lazaro, and Eugene Sue are best skipped. I knew nothing about Maqamat, a medieval arabic fictional form before reading this book, and the essay on it was informative and readable. Thanks to the others, I actually have the desire to read Waverley, PL, and KotW (this latter, though, despite the critic rather than because of him). Imagine that: literary criticism which makes you *want* to read novels!!

The second section is 'Writing Prose,' but the essays aren't as obviously linked as they are in the Long Duration. 'The Prose of the World' is probably the best here, although Eco's reflections on Victor Hugo are worth a laugh. I sense, from the first third of this volume, that the essays will generally be far too long (as is the wont of us academics), poorly written/translated, and occasionally interesting, while the 'Readings' - which were obviously intended to be shorter and actually about books - will be generally more fun and informative. Time will tell.