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The novel has been declared dead over 30 times since 1902 by prominent people in the industry. The Guardian, New York Times and the Observer have all declared at one point that books are on the decline, yet in 2015 they are still around. Novels are a relatively new format, although storytelling has been going on since the dawn of humankind. The first precursor of the novel has to be the Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote that was published in 1605. Likely, it is the highest selling book of all time, other than the bible. Most people are in agreement that the novel first became a literary format in the 18th century chiefly because this was the same time that there was a rise in literary criticism. Critics and industry pundits have declared the novel is dead for almost a century. The most common reasons are the rise of e-books, audiobooks, newspapers and magazines. Lets look at the top 30 notable people who said the novel is dead. 1902— Jules Verne says the novel is being replaced by newspapers. 1925— José Ortega y Gasset says the novel is dying in Decline of the Novel. 1930— Walter Benjamin says the novel is experiencing a crisis in Krisis des Romans. Autumn 1946—Lionel Trilling says the novel is in a state of decay in The Kenyon Review. August 20, 1954— Harold Nicholson says the novel is dead in The Observer. Fall 1955— Norman Mailer says the novel is dead. Spring 1957— José Ortega y Gassest reasserts that the novel is dying in The Hudson Review. Summer 1958— Ludwig Marcuse reports on a symposium where the novel is declared dead for Books Abroad. October 28, 1965 — Frank Kermode says the novel is always dying in the New York Review of Books. June 1966—Louis D. Rubin says the novel has always been dead in The Kenyon Review. December 1969— Ronald Sukenick says the novel is dead in The Death of the Novel and other Stories. April 1977— Raymond Federman says the novel is dead because no one is reading in American Quarterly. Winter 1978 — Michael Krasney says the Jewish American novel is dying in Melus. Fall 1980—Leslie A. Fielder says the novel is dead in Salmagundi. June 21, 1992 — Robert Coover says that all books are dying in The New York Times. September 26, 1992‚— William Grimes says the novel is dying but not dead in The New York Times. Summer 1996— Joseph Tabbi says the novel is dying again in The Wilson Quarterly. May 2005— Naguib Mahfouz says the spirit of the novel is dead in World Literature Today. December 24, 2007– Caleb Crain says the novel is dying in The New Yorker. November 20, 2008— Zadie Smith says the novel is dying in The New York Review of Books. Summer 2009— Mark Greif says the novel is dead in Boundary 2. October 29, 2009— Phillip Roth says the novel is dead in an interview. July 3, 2010—Lee Seigel declares the novel dead in The Observer. August 22, 2011—Evan Morrison says the novel might be dead in The Guardian. October 31, 2011— Mark Bauerlein says the novel is declining in Minding the Campus. January 13, 2013— Sam Byers says the novel is dying on Salon. June 23, 2013— Thomas Brewster says the “traditional” novel is dying in The Quietus. May 2, 2014— Will Self says the novel is REALLY dead in The Guardian. May 4, 2014— A twitter is created to chronicle the Death of the Novel. May 15, 2014— Scott Christian says the novel is dead in GQ. via Vox
Novels have Been Declared Dead 30 Times by Prominent People is a post from: Good e-Reader | 
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