"The Craft of Fiction" by Percy Lubbock is a classic guide to the art of fiction writing. The book is divided into several chapters, each of which focuses on a different aspect of the writing process. Lubbock discusses the importance of choosing the right subject matter and then moves on to topics such as character development, plot structure, and narrative perspective. Throughout the book, Lubbock draws on examples from classic works of literature, such as Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady," to illustrate his points. One of the key themes of "The Craft of Fiction" is the importance of subtlety and nuance in writing. The author argues that great literature is characterized by a complex interplay of emotions, motivations, and ideas and that effective writers must be able to convey these elements in a way that is both subtle and powerful. Overall, "The Craft of Fiction" is an inspiring book that is essential reading for anyone interested in the art of writing.
Percy Lubbock was an English writer who was known as an essayist, critic, and biographer. He was born on June 4, 1879, and died on August 1, 1965. In the 1920s, his controversial book The Craft of Fiction was a big deal. Percy Lubbock was the son of the merchant banker Frederic Lubbock (1844–1927) and his wife Catherine (1848–1934). Catherine was the daughter of John Gurney of Earlham Hall, Norfolk, who was part of a powerful Norwich banking family. In 1922, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize was given to Percy Lubbock for his book Earlham, which was about the summers he spent as a child at the house of his maternal grandfather. Lubbock reviewed some important modern books, like Howards End by Forster, anonymously in the columns of The Times Literary Supplement. His 1921 book The Craft of Fiction became a straw man for writers like Forster, Virginia Woolf, and Graham Greene who didn't agree with his formalist view of the novel. Wayne Booth says in The Rhetoric of Fiction[5] that Lubbock's view of Henry James's writing style was in fact schematizing and formal, even if it was systematic, and had a flattening effect.
