Philosophy of the Novel by Alan H. Goldman (review)

As Goldman tells us, there are various things taken for granted by literary specialists that are not quite true. Commentators, he reminds us, are not by definition smarter than novelists and should therefore pay attention to what the latter want to achieve in their writing. Not that authorial intention should always be the last word, but it would make little sense to read old or recent novels as if human beings had not written them. Interpretation of a novel cannot dispense with a basic understanding of its plot, character development, moral stakes, and social relevance: to interpret involves perceiving aptly what is present in the book and inferring the best explanation, that is, those meanings that fit the perception best. Interpretation requires us to explore the work’s existential and moral bearing—its value, in other words, for the reader. Novels are not simply pleasure-oriented textual devices. They “show us what it is like to live in certain ways” as they engage “our perceptual, cognitive, imaginative, and emotional capacities,” in the process achieving what, according to Cicero’s still valid formula, are the aims of any accomplished public speaker: to teach, to delight, and to move. Subtle, convincing analyses of Pride and Prejudice, Huckleberry Finn, Nostromo, The Sun Also Rises, and John Irving’s The Cider House Rules demonstrate how literature pays careful attention to human action and interaction, intentions, moral norms, and ideals, as well as to our difficult rapports with our own selves. I confess that I always read novels to see what happens to the characters, rather than to enjoy the novelist’s subtle, barely discernible stylistic games, and I suspect that most people do likewise. Goldman’s friendly wisdom is therefore highly welcome.