A Book Snob’s Criteria for Greatness
Writing a great book is a seemingly impossible task to which I aspire.
For this reason, I mostly read literary fiction that makes an attempt at greatness while seeking to slip free from writing norms. Maybe its because I’ve never much liked being categorized that I don’t read much genre fiction. I guess this makes me a book snob. Regardless, I enjoy books that challenge me and would like to encourage more people to try them out.
The following criteria are my attempt to tease apart what a great book is and to affirm my personal priorities as a reader. I am aware that while there are objective elements within these categories, most of what is expressed is quite simply my opinion as someone seeking both enjoyment and to learn from other writers who are making important attempts at greatness.
WRITING CRAFT: Assessing the author’s communication style from the micro to the macro.
- How does the author string sentences together? Does the quality of the sentence construction fade as the novel proceeds?
- Is the author’s style engaging, and does the author seek out new stylistically territory to engage the audience with? Does that work?
EMOTIONAL HEFT: Does it move me?
Do I feel my brain get hits of cortisol, dopamine, oxytocin or seratonin? Does my energy level change while I’m reading this book and continue pulsing at that frequency after I put it down? Do I laugh out loud or cry, become incredibly frustrated or invested in a particular outcome? Does this book create an emotional registry?
MESSAGE DEPTH: How deep is the reveal?
Throughout most stories, it becomes clear that there is some aspect of human life that is being challenged. How focused (indirectly or not) does the author remain to this end? Are there passages that feel self-promotional or contradictory? Does the entire book feel like a synthesis of this challenge? If so, the revelatory quality can feel like a brain growing in real-time.
PERSONAL RESONANCE: Does the story follow me after I put down the physical object?
This is the most subjective of the four categories. Some books are amazingly engaging and yet utterly forgettable. Some are tough to get through and yet impossible to forget. This criterion assesses the stain the book leaves on the brain. I admit it’s still an almost perfect mystery to me why certain books resonate, while others fade.
(All scores are out of 5. PERSONAL RESONANCE often left tbd until some time passes.)
Links to some recent goodreads reviews where I put these criteria to use:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Katalin Street, by Maga Szabo
No-No Boy, by John Okada
Signs Preceding the End of the World, by Yuri Herrera
Tuff, by Paul Beatty
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith