Secure A History Of English Literature (Palgrave Foundations Series) Edited By Michael Alexander Displayed In Mobi
it turns out literature history is not my thing, If you need a general overview of authors important throughout English history, this is a good enough book.
If you need a general overview of literary periods and you expect explanations on what was central to which period, this book is not the right one as opposed to that you'll be faced with endless biographies and brief history lessons.
On top of that, although the book is welldivided into periods, genres and authors, the author has a tendency to jump from
one point to another.
To give a brief example of this, the last author handled in Chapteris Sean O'Casey.
In thelines that constitute this section, a mere seven are spent talking about him and his plays.
In the remaining space, he talks about Auden founding a Group Theatre, with little to no rhyme or reason to how this relates to O'Casey Auden himself was already spoken about earlier on in the book.
It's a generally enjoyable read, and it does give a nice overview of all the different authors and their works.
. . but as a history of literature as a whole, it fails in delivering a good enough explanation on what makes the different literary periods what they are.
Works are instead described with sometimes subjective terms such as "powerful", or described to be "humorous" or "satiric" without any explanation of how this relates to the literary period they are part of, or sometimes even how to understand these terms "humor" inth century realism is a different beast than humor in say thethcentury work "The Canterbury Tales".
Depending on your intentions for reading this book, it'll either be a decent enough read or an utter disappointment.
Ongoing discussion among students is yet to disclose whether this tome is meant as a practical joke or a serious attempt at writing sound literary history.
If the latter is the case, I must say Mr Alexander has failed miserably, A loose collection of unfounded criticism rather than a historical survey of English literature, this work fails to provide the reader even with basic insight in the characterising features of the literary periods discussed.
Moreover, the author makes use of an opaque set of terminology including vague judgements such as "serious novels of Character and Environment" or, about Orwell, "a better journalist than a writer".
At no point does he feel the need to spell out their meaning, Frequently, an author or topic is introduced only for the discussion to be interrupted by the treatment of another writer, after which Michael comes back to the first author under discussion.
If this book wants to be what it purports it is a literary history useful to all students of English it needs thorough revision.
I'd recommend this for people who are interested in learning more about selected works and authors of English literature.
However, for someone like me, who has to study for a detailed reading list exam and needs actual facts about the different literary periods, this is definitely the wrong book.
A History of English Literature has received exceptional reviews, Tracing the development of one of the world's richest literatures from the Old English period through to the present day, the narrative discusses a wide range of key authors but never loses its clarity or verve.
Building on the A History of English Literature's established reputation and success, the third edition has been revised and updated throughout.
It now provides a full final chapter on the contemporary scene, with more on genres and the impact of globalization.
Features of this bestselling book include:
a helpful overview of each chapter
boxed biographies of authors, and tables of publications and historical events
onpage definitions of important terms and concepts
suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter to aid study
portraits of authors, illustrations, maps and an index.
A History of English Literature remains the essential companion for anyone wishing to follow the unfolding of writing in England from its beginnings.
It is ideal for those who know a few landmark texts, but little of the literary landscape that surrounds them those who want to know what English literature consists of and those who simply want to read its fascinating story.
How will it open on my Cell phoneplease tell me, i am trying from a lot of time but in vain, . . This was actually an amazing resource book when I was teaching, It's a musthave for getting a good grasp of the subject, Not only is this book unstructured and opaque, it completely rejects the idea of objectivity, Alexander more than once blatantly shows favouritism with expressions as explicitly as calling works bad or praising authors as the best of their kind.
The remark that contemporary poetry cannot reach greatness, speaks of a bitter old man and is the last in a string of unprofessional instances.
The works chosen are reviewed, instead of presented and the book is filled with strange commentaries, such as on whether or not homosexuality is natural Not only completely off topic but also not based on scientific evidence and a strange obsession over authors' Christianity.
If this book were presented as a collection of reviews, one could maybe turn a blind eye to the inconsistent subdivisions and inparagraph topic chances.
Maybe. But it is presented as a historic, scientific and academic overview and is, therefore, a shame to its kind.
This was brilliant! Putting my favourite literature and other important works into geographical, political and historical context was actually more interesting and less dull than it sounds! Best book for reading about all the eras amp centuries in one place!
Its reader friendly amp quite interesting.
. . One of those books which helped me a lot in my uni days : Trekt op niks.
Stop met literatuur saai te maken!!!!! Op uwen ivoren toren, Je verpest het. Very well written , go for it if u are preparing for NET exam or PGT Michael Joseph Alexander bornis an English translator, academic and broadcaster.
He held the Berry Chair of English Literature at the University of St, Andrews in Scotland until his retirement in, He translated Beowulf into modern English verse, .