Book suggestion for essay

[TwoThumbsDon]

Hi, I wonder if anyone has an idea of a well regarded book that contains an anecdote of about 250 words in it.

Thanks

[Elasticwoman]

Towards the end of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Mr Brooke tells a story as a way of declaring love to Meg, but the story is unfinished. Does that count? Don't know how many words.

[Elasticwoman]

Also in Jane Eyre, St John Rivers recounts Jane's own story to her, 3 or 4 pages into Chapter 33 or so.

[TwoThumbsDon]

Thank you very much Elasticwoman. I will take a look at them.

[Bink]

A children's book - but a classic one - and a marvellous anecdote - Little House in the Big Woods: story of the sledging pig. Re-telling family stories is one of the things Laura Ingalls Wilder does brilliantly.

[Elasticwoman]

There are many anecdotes written in verse ornamenting Alice In Wonderland, unrelated to the main story. Eg The Mouse's Tale.

Why do you want these examples of anecdotes within a novel?

[niceglasses]

I think there are lots of egs of this in Tom Jones/Henry Fielding, but its a while since I read it.

Also, maybe some of Magwitch's tale in Great Expectations? I bet a lot of Dickens would have that sort of thing. I'm sure Tale of Two Cities does too...

[Bink]

Yes, we want to know what the assignment is!!!

If you want to turn the assignment on its head, you could do Tristram Shandy, which is nearly nothing but anecdotes, interrupted, unfinished, competing anecdotes - what it is all about

[TwoThumbsDon]

It's for my end of course assessment with OU. I have to take two examples of creativity that differ in some interesting way and discuss how the texts achieve their effects and whether one is more "literary" than another, with reference to the whole course. So the anecdote from a novel would be one of them.

I will have a look at the other suggestions too. And I'm currently reading Great Expectations!

You all are so helpful

[sleepfinder]

What about Gerard Durrell's My Family and Other Animals? - I expect its riddled with anecdotal passages.

[ayashasky]

If you want an excellent book try 'the power of one' by bryce courtenay.He's a SA who moved to Aus. The book is semi autobographical(?)is that the right word?, it is amazing and is basically about life in a SA school,growing up with apartheid. This might make it sound rather dull but it is truly excellent,although some of it is quite strong.I do know that what is written about SA boarding schools is certainly partly true. So give it a try and there is also a sequel called Tandia. Try ebay,amazon or best of all abe books.You can get any book virtually on that site and is my favourite place!!

[MarsLady]

Which course are you finishing twothumbs?

Have you seen/read Kiss of the Spiderwoman by Manuel Puig. He uses footnotes (rather extensive ones) in his novel. That's another way of using his creative talents! hth

[donnie]

lots of Defoe - eg Moll Flanders and also JOurnal of the plague year - is full of anecdotal narrative, some fiction and some not.