Official Review: The Formulas of Popular Fiction
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Big_B99
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Official Review: The Formulas of Popular Fiction
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Formulas of Popular Fiction" by Anna Faktorovich.]
4 out of 4 stars
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In The Formulas of Popular Fiction, Anna Faktorovich details, not surprisingly, the formulas of different fiction genres, including Fantasy, Religious, Romance, Mystery, and more. What are formulas when they come to fiction books, and why are they important? Well, according to the author, “Just like E = mc2, genres can be broken down into formulas, such as Structure of Fiction = Plot + Characters + Setting.”
To give another example, the author also quotes Karen M. Hubert, who gives this example of the basic skeleton for a romance novel formula, “Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy proposes, and girl accepts. Something happens to prevent their marriage. Boy and girl overcome the problem. Boy and girl marry.”
In other words, formulas are the common, prevalent theme found throughout all or almost all books in a particular genre, and many times it is these formulas (such as the romance one given above) that define the genres and make them what they are.
Now that we have at least a working knowledge of what a formula is when it refers to fiction novels, let us go down to what the book itself it about. When I first downloaded and began reading this book, I thought that it was solely a writer’s resource, as in that I thought that the book was going to talk a little about the formulas itself and then go into how writers can take advantage of this knowledge. Well, I was wrong, although that is not necessary a bad thing at all!
This book first gives an introduction to formulas in general, and then gets down to the small details about each genre. This part of the book is split into four chapters, each covering a different group of genres or ‘theme’. These chapters include:
- Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror
- Romance
- Religious and Inspirational
- Mystery and Detective
The Formulas of Popular Fiction goes deep into all four of these themes, explaining not only the common ideas in each of the genres but also the history of each genre and theme, going through how they were created and what made them so popular. This information is given in easy-to-read chunks, and is supplemented by helpful charts, graphs, and tables, making a difficult and dry subject a pleasant and even exciting read.
In short, I would recommend The Formulas of Popular Fiction to anyone interested in the history and development of the different genres that we have come so familiar with today. Even though it was not exactly what I was expecting, I was able to quickly change my mindset and have a very enjoyable read. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for not only originality and grammar, but also for a smooth presentation of the topic.
******
The Formulas of Popular Fiction
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Barnes and Noble
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4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
In The Formulas of Popular Fiction, Anna Faktorovich details, not surprisingly, the formulas of different fiction genres, including Fantasy, Religious, Romance, Mystery, and more. What are formulas when they come to fiction books, and why are they important? Well, according to the author, “Just like E = mc2, genres can be broken down into formulas, such as Structure of Fiction = Plot + Characters + Setting.”
To give another example, the author also quotes Karen M. Hubert, who gives this example of the basic skeleton for a romance novel formula, “Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy proposes, and girl accepts. Something happens to prevent their marriage. Boy and girl overcome the problem. Boy and girl marry.”
In other words, formulas are the common, prevalent theme found throughout all or almost all books in a particular genre, and many times it is these formulas (such as the romance one given above) that define the genres and make them what they are.
Now that we have at least a working knowledge of what a formula is when it refers to fiction novels, let us go down to what the book itself it about. When I first downloaded and began reading this book, I thought that it was solely a writer’s resource, as in that I thought that the book was going to talk a little about the formulas itself and then go into how writers can take advantage of this knowledge. Well, I was wrong, although that is not necessary a bad thing at all!
This book first gives an introduction to formulas in general, and then gets down to the small details about each genre. This part of the book is split into four chapters, each covering a different group of genres or ‘theme’. These chapters include:
- Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror
- Romance
- Religious and Inspirational
- Mystery and Detective
The Formulas of Popular Fiction goes deep into all four of these themes, explaining not only the common ideas in each of the genres but also the history of each genre and theme, going through how they were created and what made them so popular. This information is given in easy-to-read chunks, and is supplemented by helpful charts, graphs, and tables, making a difficult and dry subject a pleasant and even exciting read.
In short, I would recommend The Formulas of Popular Fiction to anyone interested in the history and development of the different genres that we have come so familiar with today. Even though it was not exactly what I was expecting, I was able to quickly change my mindset and have a very enjoyable read. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for not only originality and grammar, but also for a smooth presentation of the topic.
******
The Formulas of Popular Fiction
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Barnes and Noble
Like Big_B99's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Understand Accounting Terms" by Akshay Rajgor
