What separates a great novel from a good one? What makes one book stand out in your mind forever while countless others drift off to be forgotten? What keeps you coming back to an author, time and time again?
Your first instinct is probably to say something very writer-y. Something about the kind of plot, the worldbuilding, the characters.
But it isn’t really any of those things. I mean, it is–these things are all important–but these are the superficial things. What really makes a great book stand out from a good one is deeper than that. It’s emotion, the emotion being poured out of the book and into you.
The best books can make us laugh in one chapter and have us crying in the next. They keep us awake at night, afraid or excited for what comes next. When you finally put the book down you’re exhausted, because the best books are like emotional roller coasters. You feel every success, every defeat as if it were your own.
Let me give you an example: Clariel by the amazing Garth Nix. Clariel is the fourth book in the Old Kingdom Series. Most of these books have been published for a while, but Clariel only came out last fall, right around the time I started re-reading the other books.
Clariel is actually a prequel. It’s a shocking glimpse into what the Old Kingdom was like before Sabriel, when you find the kingdom in dire conditions, but it’s more than that. It’s the kind of book where a character can die only a few sentences after you realize you really do like them.
About two thirds of the way through you realize exactly how this book sets things up for the future you encounter in the other books. It’s a heartbreaking moment, and I spent the rest of the book holding onto a faint hope that I was wrong. In fact, this book is written so well that right near the end I actually believed I had made a mistake.
By the end of Clariel I was in complete shock, with about four different emotions battling inside me. I actually had to take time to process it and come to terms with it, and I read the author’s note at the end (which explained a couple things, including the next book) about three times before I processed it.
But I wouldn’t think this was such a great book if it didn’t break my heart. The best books leave you with strong emotions, emotions you’ll have again whenever you talk about them. They don’t just have good characters. They make you feel with those characters.
What do you think makes an amazing book? Let me know in the comments below!
I agree about emotion being the key. You cannot create great emotion without good writing though.
I’ve been reading a college textbook of short stories. Many of them, I have read before, but the stories they tell are so compelling.
Very true. Perhaps it could be said that good writing might get you the publisher, but emotion is what keeps them coming back for more.
Do you re-read things often? I find I need to have a solid 5 years between me and a story/book before I can re-read it without getting bored.
I just attended a conference where Ridley Pearson spoke about the ‘take-away’ from a novel. The thing that hangs on and the readers continues to think about.
That’s exactly it. And the best writers often leave you with multiple take-aways.