if the shoe fits

if you have a great-looking pair of shoes AND they fit, it's a win-win.  i've been thinking about writing content vs. vehicle/structure lately along these lines.  it's a lot the same.  for example, an author has a great idea for a story and how will they tell it?  book of letters?  flashbacks?  travelogue/recipe collection?  multiple points of view?  or, say they have a great structure but are still looking for a good story line (this is a bit like getting a dress to go with your shoes instead of the other way around).

either way, i'd venture to say it needs to be a good fit. "84 charing crossroads" works as a book of letters back and forth, but i think it would fail as a memoir.  "all the light we cannot see" really shines alternating between the present and the past, but might not be so effective in letter form.

a really creative author, as long as they don't overdo it, can use multiple vehicles within one novel, having a character write a poem or a song, for example (maybe the author was inspired and didn't know where else to use their verse).

it's the same with context since no one is an island.  you can have the same book and, read by 500 readers bringing their own personal narratives to the book, you have essentially 500 versions of the same novel.  you can't pluck one person, idea, painting or concept out of the historical continuum.

people have a choice:  to read as a consumer or a particpant.  the latter invites you to an experience with the author that by no means ends when the last page is finished.    

style + functional experience, now that's a beautiful thing.