I have somehow managed to read nineteen Pulitzer prize winning novels so far this year. Not too shabby. If nothing else, I am learning what I like and don't like about literary fiction. Plot is important to me, as are memorable characters. I like a setting that contributes, almost like another character. Close the circle with symbolism and I am a happy reader.
The element most often missing is plot. So many times there is nothing driving the novel forward, nothing to keep me reading. It doesn't have to be a thriller, but at least take into consideration that the reader requires some forward movement to stay interested. Look at A Thousand Acres. That novel has everything, including a forward momentum of stress/release that kept me interested.
I have no intention of stopping my Pulitzer reading project at this point. I'm having fun with it. Occasionally I take a little break, usually while waiting for another shipment of used books to arrive from Powells. It's becoming a habit now to read, just like it used to be for me years ago, and that is a good thing. At breakfast, at lunch, in the last hour before bedtime, I have the latest book open and am reading.
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