Foreword The great interest shown today in discussions of the novel, and especially in the theories advanced by the supporters of what, in France at present, is called the “Nouveau Roman,” has led many to imagine that these theorizing novelists are cool calculators who began by constructing their theories, which they then decided to put into practice in their books. This explains the fact that their novels have been referred to as “laboratory experiments.” If this were the case, it might seem plausible that, one fine day, after having formulated certain opinions on the evolution, content and form of the present-day novel, I sat down at my table and undertook to apply them by writing Tropisms, and the books that followed. Nothing could be more mistaken than this supposition. For no literary work can be a mere illustration of principles, however convincing. And, in fact, these articles, all of which were written since 1947, are far removed from the conception and composition of my first book.
