Give me fiction, but hold the novel

 W.G. Sebald said: “I try to write prose fiction but the novel genre is alien to me.”

Alas, it’s so with me.

Few of the “great” novels have stuck with me. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn, on the other hand, struck me as a wonder.

I liked Death Comes for the Archbishop. But Willa Cather told anyone who would listen that book  was not a novel.

If you follow this collection of notes, you’ll know that I generally prefer short stories. But this is not just length.

I do like some longer works of fiction. I’d call Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet a wonderful work of fiction. I wouldn’t call it a novel. 

This attitude might just be petty stubbornness and a refusal to grow up. When I was in high school, briefly and without distinction, I had allergic reactions to Fitzgerald and Dickens. I probably behaved badly to those who tried to convince me these were great works.

If I were in charge of the educational system, kids would get a pass on Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby. They’d probably have to read Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams.

Fortunately, I’m not in charge.

• Source: “Interview with W G Sebald,” by Sebastian Shakespeare; Literary Review, October 2001.