Talk:Epistolary novel

Application
Does the term 'epistolary' apply only to novels, or can it be applied to works read as factual, e.g., the Bible? 76.180.120.161 06:15, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

What about Robinson Caruso? The novel is told as a series of diary entries. If it is a valid example, it seems worthwhile to include it in the article simple because it is a work many people are familiar with.


 * Robinson Crusoe is not written as a diary (it contains one), the term is also not applied to works in which letters appear only occasionally (there are thousands of them - most of them written in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the inclusion of letters - telling you how to write such letters - was extremely fashionable). --Olaf Simons 07:50, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

It seems to me that epistolary novels are not "rare" in modern times. It may not be the most popular form of novel, but it still has a strong presence. Therefore, I edited that line. Jennifu 23:15, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Example
Does The Screwtape Letters count, even though we only see the letters from ONE of the pair of correspondents? --Ed

Yes. If it uses any sort of letters, journal entries, or articles to tell the story, it is an epistolary novel. --Misha-chan

Okay, so why is it important to note that no epistolary novel has been done in the form of taxes? I'm sure there's a whole world of ways to write an epistolary novel that have never been attempted, so why metion this one? To me it seems a bit silly, so I'm taking it out. I'm a bit shy, because I'm new, so that's why I even mention it. Benji 07:19, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I seem to recall from a college seminar that the form either originated or was repopularized by one of Montesquieu's works -- The Persian Letters or some such thing? Anyone recall the title, if I am correct, and if it would be worth mentioning here? Thanks, Jwrosenzweig 23:13, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * What have the lettres persanes to do with the other novels mentioned in the article? Nothing but the form. Why can't you see this? --13Peewit (talk) 23:27, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Literary devices
What set of concepts would "Epistolary novel" and "Omnicient narrator" both be part of? What other types of storytelling might also be part of the set? matturn 12:13, 21 January 2006 (UTC)


 * How about "point of view" -- which I know is a hot-button topic in WikiWorld, but in this context it generally refers to the "identity" of the narrator, be it an omniscient narrator, a limited omniscient narrator, one of the characters, etc. I suppose within POV, the epistolary novel would come under the subheading of "foil," where the action is presented from the POV of more than one character, where each obviously can only know his/her own experiences, thoughts, emotions, and so on. Z Wylld 19:35, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Grrrr.
This page has basically become a list, where anyone who has read such a novel goes, "Oohh! I know another one!" and enters it in. It's not very encyclopedic, as it addresses a largely arbitrary scattering of examples needlessly while not even really delving into the subteties of the genre itself. Amber388 14:36, 25 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree. How about reorganizing/editing the list(s) to limit it to the major works, or representative works, in each language?  There could be a separate article/list of all the examples. Z Wylld 18:52, 25 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Done, just cut the bottom off and moved it to a "list" article. Ortolan88 20:48, 25 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, done now. The top books had no more reason to be in this article than the bottom ones, so I moved them all.  Goldfritha 00:47, 26 September 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, but the link, and the listing, say "contemporary" only. I don't know how to change the title of the separate list.  Can someone change the title + the link to say "later" as well as "contemporary"?  After all, some of these are from the 1800s. :) Z Wylld 15:09, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, Goldfritha, there is "more reason" to put some of the most famous epistolary novels ever written -- Dracula, The Moonstone in the main article, while relegating Youth in Revolt and The Perks of Being a Wallflower in a list placed elsewhere. I expect you can figure out what the reason is.  Ortolan88 16:49, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Moved most of the important modern novels and novelists back to the main article, left Nabokov and Stephen King as teasers so the list article wouldn't seem so slim. Ortolan88 22:00, 4 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I slimmed down the list some more Jennifu 23:15, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Would the Griffin and Sabine trilogy by Nick Bantock be considered "epistolary novels"? (I don't know; I'm just asking.)

What about Mark Danielewski's House Of Leaves? Does it conform to this format somehow? 203.87.224.222 (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 05:45, 5 February 2009 (UTC).

Literary and intellectual points
I think that the statement "Often, narrators of epistolary fiction are somewhat untrustworthy or biased" should be backed up by citation or argument. MrSerif 13:25, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Perhaps it was meant in the way that first-person narrative is sometimes unreliable? Since letters are essentially first person. In either case it doesn't add anything to the article. 24.58.134.56 06:35, 20 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree. I deleted the statement. Jennifu 23:27, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Why are Frankenstein and Dracula singled out for disapproval? Consider these quotes from the entry:

- "Her "hotchpotch" of a story strains the limits of the epistolary form, involves the letter in murder most foul and undermines the effectiveness of the letter medium itself."

- "While the novel draws on the epistolary form, by the end of the story it reduces it, along with other media, to a monstrous "mass of typewriting"."

Neither comment is credited, and they certainly don't seem to conform to neutral PoV. Mr0s3n (talk) 17:18, 4 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree that it is very unusual that Frankenstein and Dracula seem singled out for criticism.

Agatha Christie??
What is the point about Agatha Christie. Certainly most of her novels are not epistolary: there may be examples of course but they are not the classics. I guess Roger Ackroyd has a malevolent narrator, but so what, it's written as a book not a diary or sequence of letters. Could somebody clarify the point here or just delete the reference. --138.251.209.181 (talk) 12:54, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

I've cracked on this - I'm deleting this sentence as i don't believe it. Somebody can of course put it back and maybe cite the evidence or add to the discussion here --81.178.208.211 (talk) 16:11, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Consistency with List
Most of the modern examples (except Alice Walker) are NOT in the list of contemporary epistolary novels. They should be (or they should not be here). Also the ones selected for this page don't seem special in any particular way. I suggest that contemporary (maybe post 1970?) novels be mentioned only in the list on the other page. --81.178.208.211 (talk) 16:16, 28 January 2008 (UTC)--81.178.208.211 (talk) 16:16, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

James Howell
"The founder of the epistolary novel in English is said by many to be James Howell(1594-1666) with 'Familiar Letters', who writes of prison, foreign adventure, and the love of women."

Source for this? I don't think "is said by many" cuts it... G. 117.92.147.242 (talk) 15:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

WorldCat Genres
Maximilianklein (talk) 23:10, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Grr again
We've gone back to the problem Amber388 raised in 2006: "This page has basically become a list, where anyone who has read such a novel goes, "Oohh! I know another one!" and enters it in." This is even less justifiable since now we have a separate list article. 128.148.231.34 (talk) 14:49, 16 December 2018 (UTC)


 * Yeah I've culled a bunch, we just needed to add the invisible comments people have been using for plot summaries and such for years, not sure why nobody thought of it before me. Orchastrattor (talk) 16:13, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Non-letter documents
Removed the claim (present since 2005) that any novel composed of documents is an epistolary; it is unsourced and other encyclopedias do not appear to mention it as a caveat, e.g. [Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/art/epistolary-novel). Added some weasel words to nod in that direction, though, because it clearly is a fuzzy boundary and I didn't want to imply sharp lines or high confidence. --2601:643:867F:6EB0:4DE7:5880:9906:71DC (talk) 19:29, 7 June 2022 (UTC)