Patterns & Metaphors
Novel
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This literary form is preeminent in the contemporary world and originated in the first century. It is a story of varying complexity and length, and of innumerable variants and types. It can best be defined by its capability to be bound into a book or into books, to be sold in bookstores, to be read by thousands (chiefly women), and possibly to be dramatized as a film. Novelists are culture heroes almost on the same level as movie stars. The greatest percentage of novels are no longer read twenty years after publication, and most of their copyrights are not renewed. The value of the dated novel can be seen in thrift shops and second hand bookstores where they are virtually given away. Novels clog public library systems in many countries and their acquisition, retention and circulation for ephemeral reading is an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. A handful of novels are among mankind's supreme literary achievements but among modern exemplars of the genre are the worst abuses of any art form extant.
