No. 4 from a series of six things all writers can learn from Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, based on Laura Miller’s 9 March 2021 article in Slate © 2021 The Slate Group LLC
Don’t be afraid of dabbling with genres. The right writer can revive any form.
Storytelling genres and formats come in and out of fashion. But they never truly disappear. They periodically return, and sometimes they just remain in disguise.
My favorite example of this is the western. No one, ostensibly, buys western novels any longer. But the genre lives on in detective, spy, and thriller novels. The format is just wearing a slightly different set of clothes.
Allegory is another format generally felt to be out of fashion.
Miller talks about how often she hears people complain that this or that children’s book is bad because it is too ‘allegorical’.
She says allegory is “A misunderstood and unjustly maligned form.”
Miller points out that The Phantom Tollbooth is filled with allegory, and young readers don’t find it lifeless or problematic.
Posts in this series:
1. Procrastination isn’t always your enemy
3. Don’t be afraid of the big themes
4. No literary genre ever really dies
5. Procrastination IS sometimes your enemy
6. Good writing is as much about what you don’t say
Acknowledgement
In early March 2021 the writer and architect Norton Juster died at the age of 91. He was the author of the beloved fantasy adventure book The Phantom Tollboth, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. Shortly afterwards, Laura Miller published the article ‘Six Things All Writers Can Learn from The Phantom Tollbooth’ in Slate as an appreciation of Juster. “Every time I return to the book,” wrote Miller, “I marvel at how beautifully crafted it is, and not just for a kids’ book. There’s plenty that all kinds of writers can learn from Juster’s masterpiece.” I’m basing this series of posts on that article.
