Fiction - the Acid Test

To me the acid test (a chemical test for true gold) of a writer of fiction is the ability of the author to create characters who's life experience are completely different than their own. For example, I really liked the late Bebe Moore Campbell's novel, "Brothers and Sisters" because as an African-American she created white characters who were not stereotypes. The same thing would be true of a white author writing about African-Americans and this idea goes beyond race.

As noted in an earlier post, I think Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) is a great writer well up there with all the great novelists. I am currently reading "Daniel Deronda," her last novel for the Victorian challenge and about about 200 pages into what is almost a 700 page book. I enjoyed the first part which is about a young woman in a structure that seems to be almost a parody of a Jane Austen novel including a line that seems to be almost a commentary on the famous opening line of "Pride and Prejudice."

The second section of the book turns to the title character who was already introduced as a young man. It picks up his story at the age of 13. While there is no resemblance between Deronda's life and my own, I found myself completely identifying with his feelings. It was almost scary the way Eliot as a woman who had not children of her own, could capture so perfectly the feelings of a young adolescent male. I have no idea where this book is going, but at the very least it illustrates why I think Eliot is such a great writer - she passes the acid test by producing literary gold.