Reading Words into Worlds Phenomenological Mimesis of Givenness in the Novel

McReynolds sets out to describe what it is like to feel alive in the world of a novel. He accomplishes this by also making us feel alive in his book; so lively and intimate is his authorial voice, one feels as though he is speaking directly to you. With lucid explanation, he tackles the dense narrative concepts of phenomenology and mimesis, not to mention realism itself. Indeed, McReynolds' conception of phenomenological realism belongs alongside such fundamental theories as Ian Watt's formal realism. But his explanatory power does not diminish the magic of novels by mighty giants like Defoe, Austen, Hardy, and Eliot. Rather, this book will leave readers with a renewed sense of wonder at the novel's power to draw us in to a world, and our own desire to go.

 -Dr. Kristen Pond, Associate Professor, Baylor University, USA

Reading Words Into Worlds is vitally important for any student of the novel. Dr. McReynolds' work is grounded in phenomenological research, bringing foundational figures such as Heidegger and Ricoeur to bear in explaining what a novel is and how it works. He writes with a no-nonsense lucidity that is rare in recent literary criticism. His theory of "phenomenological mimesis" is not only one of the most cogent explanations of how we read novels, but it also has suggestive implications for making sense of reality itself.

-Dr. Cory Grewell, Professor of Literature, Patrick Henry College, USA