Book Review: The Ulysses Delusion

What makes a good novel good? This is the question presented by Cecilia Konchar Farr in The Ulysses Delusion. For too long there has been a consensus that has remained unchallenged. There are novels on best-seller lists and in other places that Farr questions the positioning of. Her point in writing this book then is this: “I just want us to start talking, authentically, realistically (xix).” So, let’s talk, and see what we can find an answer to our initial question.

Section 1, “The Crime,” deals with the crime that has become literary criticism. Farr attempts to right that crime. In chapter 1, Farr argues for a different take on criticizing the novels that we read. Chapter 2 delves into the class biases that inherently exist in the novels that we choose. Section 2 then takes principles and goes into case studies. These are studies on:

•  Chapter 3 – Lolita      
•  Chapter 4 – Oprah’s Book Club      
•  Chapter 5 – “Chick Lit”      
•  Chapter 6 – 50 Shades      
•  Chapter 7 – Jodi Picoult     
•  Chapter 8 – Atlas Shrugged      
•  Chapter 9 – Harry Potter      

Section 3 is composed only of Chapter 10, which presents Farr’s final goal of this book- a new way of book critiquing. Her emphasis here is clear: find out why you think a book is good. I have to agree here. Not all the books that I have reviewed are good. I have not enjoyed them all. Some of them are by good authors, yet I have not liked them. But we must each decide why we think a book is good. For this reason, I give this book 4 stars out of 5.

WHERE TO BUY THIS BOOK:

http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781137553621

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:

Konchar Farr, Cecilia. The Ulysses Delusion: Rethinking the Standards of Literary Merit. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2016. 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Springer book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.