Reading in Public No. 39: What "drives" a book?
Books outside the plot / character binary
In the last several years I’ve started to notice that some of my favorite—or at least most interesting—reading experiences can’t be boiled down to the binary of a plot-driven vs. a character-driven novel. Generally, I’ve described my taste as preferring character-driven stories—books that are propelled by the internal conflicts and development of the characters rather than by external events. I always love nuanced and complex characters—but sometimes the books I love don’t seem driven by character. That is, while the characters may be complicated it isn’t their development that is keeping me turning the pages and the book may seem more interested in other elements than the characters themselves. This got me thinking about what other factors can drive a novel and which of those driving factors I like most in my own reading life.
Like all categorization, this is all overlapping and subjective. Books that are driven by one element still have all the others, and the best books (in my opinion) care deeply about all the elements of craft. But I’ve found it useful to think about both because it helps me find books that I love and because it has expanded my understanding of what a great book can be. Sometimes I’ve found myself wondering why a book is so wonderful even without strong character development—the answer, for me, is that there is more than one or two ways to drive a story.
Here are some of my favorite factors, outside of plot and character, that I think can drive a book and some examples of each. I’d love to hear your favorites too!
Structure-driven books. I love a book with an interesting structure so much that I’m willing to forgive a lot in favor of something unusual and intricate. Structure-driven books appeal to the English major in me and get me thinking about why the author decided to craft the book in this manor and allow me to consider what exactly a novel is or can be. For me, a novel is driven by its structure if the structure significantly enhances the theme of the book or contributes to the emotional resonance of the story—or if it feels like the structure was crafted first and the characters and story fit around it. Some of my favorite structure-driven novels are The Furrows by Namwali Serpell, Couplets by Maggie Millner, The Keep by Jennifer Egan, and The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.
Setting-driven books. This term came up in a recent FictionMatters Book Club conversation when we were discussing Paradise by Abdurazak Gurnah. While the book followed one character closely, it didn’t feel like it was his development that was driving the story forward, nor did the book have a ton of plot (well, until the very end, but that’s a different story!). Instead, it felt like Gurnah was most interested in rendering a vivid and accurate picture of a specific place in a specific moment of time. When I shifted my thinking towards that, I liked the book a lot more and could see how well-crafted the novel really was. Some other books I can think of that may be driven by setting are Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, and When Two-Feathers Fell From the Sky by Margaret Verble.
Theme-driven books. Okay this might be the most controversial, but I love and adore theme-drive books. These are the types of books where the big idea or central question of the book is driving all the other elements so that when it’s done well it feels akin to a perfect orchestral arrangement. The line here is so thin though because when a book wades into the territory of delivering a finely-tuned moral1, then I’m out. The best theme-driven books for me then, are the ones where it feels like the author set out to explore a Big Question without being concerned with arriving at the answer. The novel then lets the reader meander through an exploration of the theme and arrive at their own conclusions. A few books I’ve loved that feel driven by theme are On Beauty by Zadie Smith, Real Americans by Rachel Khong, In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, and People Collide by Isle McElroy.
Tell me your thoughts! What factors do you love to see drive a novel? What are some of your favorite books that don’t fit into the plot- / character-driven binary?
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Happy reading!
Sara
I think we often heard books like this described as “issue-driven books.” I am actually okay with issue-driven books (more on that another day!) but get frustrated when the book delivers an easy moral lesson to me on a silver platter.
Motherhood by Sheila Heti is one driven by theme (do I want to be a mother) and though I appreciated it I got tired of the redundancy by the end.
One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is what Kiley Reid said in an interview about her book. She said that although most people claim her book lacks plot there are actually multiple *plot points.* I had never thought about the difference between a plot and a plot point so I googled it (lol) and it made me look at literary fiction books differently. I’m not so quick to say “nothing happens”
I'm reading Caucasia right now and it sure seems to be theme-driven, too. Can't wait to discuss!