English Literature

Marianne Apostolides Swim tells the tale of a woman who is perplexed by one of the cruelest decision-making challenges. Aside from the captivating words and imageries of Apostilides, the novel also displays a remarkable narrative which surpasses the effect of the plot itself. Bound by her ambiguous thoughts on life, love, family and romance, Apostolides easily catches the readers attention from her introductory chapter with transitions that seem as fluid as the flowing water. Apostolides characterization was also remarkable. Kat, the main heroine, personifies a woman with such very high hopes and dreams that seemed to have brought her to a state of contemplation about what the costs of these dreams are. The other characters bring readers to the most fundamental and emotional sentiments of women regarding motherhood, dreams and love affairs. Apart from this, this novel also appears as a great depiction of desire which follows the rhythm of a body in motion 1.

Swim is a story which creates a dramatic effect by intertwining the past from the present events in the main protagonists life. As what the title would basically imply, most of the scenes presented in this novel involved Kats swimming lapses, while her daughter rests on a pool side recliner, reading a book, while her parents go on with their lives, and while her lover continues to make their affair more complicated. While observing the narrative style of Apostolides closely, it can be noted that hers was a style of a very contemporary leaning. Each word and imagery relates directly to an action swimming. With every breath, action, stroke and beat, the readers are forced to follow Kat in her every swim, towards the fulfillment and affirmation of her desires as a woman, as a mother and as a dreamer. This novel has received several positive regards ever since it was release which just shows how powerful the peculiarity of the utilized narrative structure. And deemed as a modern type of fiction, it is incontestable that this work powerfully pulls the reader down into the depths of Kats desires as she dives, and up to the fulfillment of each wish as Kat resurfaces and gasps for air.

The modernity in this piece of work was very much apparent due to the contemporary styles the author applied in the command of language. As compared to the conventional form of fiction writing as what can be observed in most traditional narratives, Apostolides command of the language seemed to be very stirring as it provides a seemingly fluid and flawless transition between words, scenes and thoughts. The overall power of the novel relied on the power of the authors words that evidently surprise the readers and make them want to read on as more and more exciting and moving thoughts unfold. Not all works of fiction emphasizes on the value and implications of the command of language. This may be one of the most basic differences new fiction has from traditional works of fiction. And as what was depicted in this work, it appears that new fiction holds more influence and effects on the readers of today due to its imperative power through a more powerful command of language.
In studying narrative structures, textual materiality is another very significant aspect to consider aside from organization and use of language. Textual materiality was mostly seen in Shakespearean works. Just like this work by Apostolides, Shakespearean plays that mostly focused on historicism and formalism were all deemed by critics and editors as some of the most evident example of textual materiality 2. Hence, it appears safe to assume that in one way or another, this work of Apostolides may hold some resemblance to those of Shakespeare. And having been able to read through the works of both authors, it can be said that the resemblance is on how both authors used language as the primary moving force in their stories. In Swim, Apostolides takes readers deep into the world of her character by seemingly hypnotizing them with her stirring words. Although this appears to be the most dominant feature of her work, she was able to contain and keep the story within her words by enriching her characters and keeping them on a certain level of reality, which reminds readers that they are the more significant aspect of the fiction.

Never Again by Doug Nufer
Doug Nufers Never Again on the other hand presents the endeavor and the decision of a man who embarks on a journey wherein things have to be done differently, so as not to repeat the mistakes he has committed in his past 3. On plain sight, the structure of the plot may not really get dramatic attention from readers, though the story in itself appears commendable. This is because it sends a valuable message to readers that it is never too late to learn from ones mistakes. A lot of critics gave high regards to Nufers ability to present the current issues being faced in the society through the dynamic and complex personas of his character. However, this was not the most dominant and remarkable feature of his work. Apart from insightful lessons on life, Nufer was able to acquire positive critical remarks as well as a considerable amount of readership due to the strength of his writing prowess.

This kind of writing prowess being tackled is not just about the contemporary ways and techniques Nufer was able to apply in this piece of work. The author goes beyond that. The most surprising and interesting feature of this book is the fact that the author - cleverly  decided not to repeat every word in his work. Literally, no word was ever repeated in the entire novel. A lot of people initially found this hard to believe in. However, going through his words definitely proves it. Armed with sufficient narrative techniques, such as unique presentation of language as well as cleverness and wit in portrayal, Nufer impressed innumerable critics and readers by his commanding and astonishing usage and command of words.

As compared to Apostolides work, the textual power and influence is much more apparent and obvious in Nufers work since readers are immediately faced with an impressive trick through the extra-ordinary usage of language and words. In Apostolides work, some readers may find it hard to determine the textual materiality of her work if they have been used to reading contemporary novels. However, in this work by Nufer, it has been easy to identify that the strategy used is something surprising. In a way, this strategy appeared to be a deviation from the conventional norms of fiction writing which evidently surprised even the modern readers.

It is understandable that works like these of Apostolides and Nufer are not that easy to comprehend, especially for those readers who have been used to traditional and prose-like fiction novels. This is one of the easily perceived traits of the modern textual convention.  Apart from the values and lessons embedded in each thought, modern authors nowadays also strive to displace some lasting impression on readers and critics by doing something different. And this is what the authors, Apostolides and Nufer did. Both authors did not fall short of impressing the readers and critics as their command of language and textual materiality were way out of the ordinary. Nufers work surely holds some level of complexities since the author has been constrained to use more complex words in some parts of his novel so as not to repeat any word. The length of the novel was not far from the normal length of fictional works hence, it was really remarkable that the author was able to keep the style he established from the beginning.

But just like Apostolides work, Nufer was also able to keep the substantive meaning of his story despite his emphasis on the unique command of words he used. The identity of the character  though the words describing his traits were never repeated throughout the entire book  was kept, and its dynamics and complexity was also preserved, which made it interesting enough for the readers as well.

Indeed, both works are great exemplars of new fiction. But most importantly these works exemplify an ideal that no matter how contemporary or even deviant a literary strategy gets, an author must never forget to contain a valuable and substantive lesson for the readers.