by John Steinbeck Henry James wrote that the novel is to be experienced--therefore the reader must completely understand what happens in it. You should appropriate comparisons, contrasts, draw analogies of what is in the novel and one's own experience. While the elements of fiction are important in isolated ways, relating the parts is most important. A novel should show, "a direct, personal impression of life." The form of the novel is so free, so liable to variation, so open to innovation, that an exact definition is not possible. Different ....