Peter Turchi: Archimedes’ Problem, and Three Solutions (January 2009)

“Give me a place to stand and a lever,” Peter Turchi quotes Archimedes as claiming, “and I will move the Earth.” In this lecture, Turchi looks at John Updike’s Rabbit is Rich, E.L. Doctorow’s The March, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude to consider how writers can make “levers” to propel their narratives forward. Turchi pays particular attention to the openings of these novels, suggesting that writers can use beginnings to establish the rules and themes of what is to come.