In Part 1 of this essay I looked at Robbe-Grillet's first two novels (A Regicide and The Erasers), in which it is easy to trace the development of the techniques and motifs that he would refine and re-use throughout his career. The first novels are in many ways conventional, and this is because the techniques … Continue reading Alain Robbe-Grillet: early fiction (part 2)
Someone - Google could tell me who - said "you never learn how to write a novel, just the one you're writing now". I've tried a few ways. My first (adult) attempt at a novel can be discounted, as it was a make-it-up-as-you-go-along story of magical realism set among the homeless of Dundee. I really … Continue reading Construction Time
I wrote a review recently of Ollier's best-known (in English, which isn't saying much) work, The Mise-en-Scene. As one of the less-publicised nouveau-roman authors, only four of his books have been translated into English. The first of these - Law and Order (translated by Ursule Molinaro) - was published in 1971 by Red Dust in … Continue reading Claude Ollier’s “Law and Order” (1961)
Into the Gyre 