When Certain Things in Novels Do Not Make Sense to Book Reviewers, Literary Critics, and Professors of Literature, What Should They Do About It?

If something in a novel makes no sense to you, what do you do about it?

It probably depends on whether you think the writer is legitimate; that is, whether the writer has won an award or other acclaim, or, at least, whether you think that some of the writing is obviously very good. If you do think the writer is legitimate, then when something makes no sense to you, you probably ignore or excuse it.

In the many novels discussed here, I have cited many examples of things that make no sense without the perspective of multiple personality that I have brought to it; for example, the signs and symptoms of multiple personality in the protagonist of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Those signs and symptoms were not understood by reviewers, but no reviewer mentions these things about the protagonist that they did not understand.

If the understanding of literature is to progress, readers must have the courage to acknowledge that certain things do not make sense to them.