Let priggish critics and short-story buffs sneer, the 19th-century-style novel has never gone out of vogue
Part of the allure is simple gluttony: If you're loving a book, it's delightful to know that there's plenty of it. But I believe there's also an inherent appeal in fat novels, something that only written fiction can offer and that short stories, for all their felicities, aren't able to provide. You can be swallowed up by a long novel, immersed in the world its author has created in a fashion that no other medium can rival. No, not even boxed sets of HBO series consumed in day-long binges! This immersion reminds many of us of our first, luxuriant plunges into books as children, and any author who can take us back to the place where we forget where we are and how much time has passed will pretty much have us eating out of her hand for good.
