I’m not a particular fan of rules and guidance when it comes to writing fiction i.e. “show don’t tell”, “a story needs a beginning, middle and end” etc. There are multiple ways to construct a narrative and tell a story; I don’t see why we should restrict ourselves. Having said that, in reading Robert Seethaler’s The Café with no Name I found myself coming hard up against one such pearl of wisdom: the need for a story arc.
For me, Seethaler’s novel simply doesn’t have one. You could argue that the arc is the story of the café and its owner Simon, but to my mind neither are strong enough (in terms of character and arc) and what we are left with is a loose-ish confection of episodes and minor characters – which is a shame because the writing itself is fine.
Having tackled novels with a ‘soft arc’ or an episodic approach myself, I feel qualified to make this assessment. In 17 Alma Road there is a single but strong arc which supports the episodic nature of the story; and in The Extra Shot (another café!) the range and depth of characters and their individual plot lines is much stronger.
All that to one side, having also read Seethaler’s The Tobacconist, I’d happily read more of his work.
Ian Gouge - Writer 