ELT & Literary Studies Books

19211 products


  • Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to

    Penguin Books Ltd Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA landmark anthology that will introduce many extraordinary, unknown Russian writers to an English-language readership for the first time       Fleeing Russia amid the chaos of the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War, many writers went on to settle in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere and forged new lives in exile. Much of their subsequent work, published in Russian language magazines and books, is entirely unknown in the West and has only been recently discovered in Russia itself. As well as including stories by the most famous émigré writers, Vladimir Nabokov and Ivan Bunin, this collection introduces many lesser known voices: Yuri Felzen, known as the Russian Proust, Nadezhda Teffi, the hugely popular and funny story writer, and Georgy Ivanov, whose work of poetic prose The Atom Explodes is a brilliant, haunting response to the upheaval and trauma of emigration. Exploring themes of displacement, nostalgia, loss and new beginninTrade ReviewA brilliant, poignant anthology -- Alexis Levitin * Los Angeles Review of Books *A rich anthology ... Editor and lead translator Bryan Karetnyk has done a marvellous job ... The translations maintain a high standard of literary quality and precision. Admirably equipped with biographical and explanatory notes, this anthology presents to the Anglophone reader, for the first time, a unified representation of the authors and disparate, yet interlinked cultural contexts of first-wave Russian emigration -- Judges, Read Russia Prize 2018Compelling ... Karetnyk's anthology transports the reader into the motley lives and imaginations of Russian émigrés in Paris, Berlin and beyond. Highly recommended reading for anyone fascinated by prerevolutionary Russian culture as preserved among the ranks of the two million-odd Whites that formed the first wave of emigration from Bolshevik Russia. -- Anna Gunin * The Riveter *Ably translated ... Bryan Karetnyk has produced that most welcome artefact in this age of the floating text: an 'enhanced' paperback whose fictive stories are fully equipped with their histories. Writers' biographies, historical chronology, a list of Russian émigré venues, and well-researched footnotes serve to anchor each narrative in its own peripatetic time and space -- Caryl Emerson * Times Literary Supplement *A powerful reminder of the trauma of civil war and hardships of displacement ... The stories evoke a lost world with attendant nostalgia, sorrow, fear and anger ... Rarely has the term 'unjustly neglected' rung more true * Country Life *Brilliantly translated by Bryan Karetnyk ... A truly wonderful selection * Los Angeles Review of Books Radio Hour *

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • Playing in the Dark

    Harvard University Press Playing in the Dark

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisMorrison brings her genius to this personal inquiry into the significance of African-Americans in the American literary imagination. Through her investigation of black characters, narrative strategies, and idiom in the fiction of white American writers, Morrison provides a perspective sure to alter conventional notions about American literature.Trade ReviewThis is a major work by a major American author… It is an exuberant exercise, conducted by a writer in her prime who knows that her own work makes steady inroads on the unspeakable. -- Diane Middlebrook * Los Angeles Times *In Playing in the Dark, Morrison explores how the temptation to enslave others instead of embracing freedom has shaded our national literature, and how an acceptance of this truth will enable us to see that literature’s struggles and fears, and so better understand its exuberance… Her wisdom is to locate strength in what appears to be weakness. -- Jane Mendelsohn * Voice Literary Supplement *In this beautifully written, immensely quotable study, Morrison attempts to overturn pervasive critical agendas that ignore racial representations in white texts and thus impoverish literary studies… Morrison’s interest is not to designate texts as ‘racist’ but to read the ways that the ‘racial’ operates. -- Linda Krumholz * Signs *Morrison’s delivery of the distinguished Massey lectures at Harvard in 1990 showed off her prowess as critic, for she brings the indomitable spirit of her fiction to her feelings about literature. In Playing in the Dark, the published lectures, Morrison argues that a black, or Africanist, presence exists throughout the history of American literature, and its understanding is essential to any body of criticism. Identifying what she calls ‘the rhetoric of dread and desire,’ then tracing its manifestations through works by Poe, Cather and Hemingway, Morrison believes that to ignore the presence of race in literature is to rob fiction of its power… But the most telling test of any critical argument, at least for those of us who prefer passion to theory, is whether such speculation will send you back to primary sources. By the time I’d finished Playing in the Dark, the floor around me was littered with Huck Finn and James Baldwin and Faulkner. -- Gail Caldwell * Boston Globe *In three compact and skillful essays, Morrison explores and illumines the gaggle of literary devices—conceits, tropes, metaphors—that have been mostly unconsciously deployed by white writers to refract the rays of blackness through the prism of literary silence, repression or avoidance. Morrison ably applies her therapeutic textual intervention to make these rays visible and to imaginatively envision how an Africanist presence was essential in forming and extending an American national literature… [This is her] impressive debut as a critical intellectual. -- Michael Eric Dyson * Chicago Tribune *A brief and compelling dissection of U.S. fiction. -- Paul Skenazy * San Francisco Chronicle *[Her] thesis is an engaging one, and it becomes more so in a sequence of a few compressed but inspired readings of American works, Cather’s Sapphira and the Slave Girl, Poe’s Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, and Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. -- Mark Edmundson * Washington Post Book World *Table of Contents1. black matters 2. romancing the shadow 3. disturbing nurses and the kindness of sharks

    10 in stock

    £27.86

  • Structuralist Poetics Structuralism Linguistics

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Structuralist Poetics Structuralism Linguistics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA work of technical skill as well as outstanding literary merit, Structuralist Poetics was awarded the 1975 James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association. It was during the writing of this book that Culler developed his now famous and remarkably complex theory of poetics and narrative, and while never a populariser he nonetheless makes it crystal clear within these pages.Trade Review''The brilliance, precision and clarity with which Dr Culler conducts his argument make this a book which all those concerned with the analysis of literature should read.' - A.S. Byatt'The brilliance, precision and clarity with which Dr Culler conducts his argument make this a book which all those concerned with the analysis of literature should read.' - A.S. Byatt, Times Education SupplementTable of ContentsPART I Structuralism and Linguistic Models 1 The Linguistic Foundation 2 The Development of a Method: Two Examples 3 Jakobson’s Poetic Analyses 4 Greimas and Structural Semantics 5 Linguistic Metaphors in Criticism PART II Poetics 6 Literary Competence 7 Convention and Naturalization 8 Poetics of the Lyric 9 Poetics of the Novel PART III Perspectives 10 ‘Beyond’ Structuralism: Tel Quel 11 Conclusion: Structuralism and the Qualities of Literature

    1 in stock

    £15.58

  • The Language of Displayed Art

    Taylor & Francis Ltd The Language of Displayed Art

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Language of Displayed Art, first published in 1994, is a seminal work in the field of Multimodality and one of the few to be entirely dedicated to the analysis and interpretation of works of art. This book explores the grammar of the visual arts of painting, sculpture and architecture, proposing that as viewers we simultaneously read three different kinds of meaning in them: what is represented (Representational meaning) how it engages us (Modal meaning) how it is composed (Compositional meaning). The second edition features: two new chapters; an extended discussion of Chapter 5 Why Semiotics; and an extended version of Chapter 7 with more illustrations of language forms, discourse norms and genres, as well as non-art visual modes. The book is now accompanied by a CD, created by the author and features a virtual gallery of twenty-eight additional paintings with questions to encourage analysis and interpretaTrade Review'Occasionally a book comes along which takes over your whole field of attention and resets the way you look at some aspect of experience. For me "The Language of Displayed Art" was one such book. It opened up the world of painting, architecture and sculpture, bringing out its dimensions and depth of meaning and adding significantly to my understanding- and therefore to my enjoyment- of familiar and not so familiar works of art.' M.A.K. Halliday, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University of Sydney, Australia 'My favourite bedtime reading beautifully restored and given a new lease of life... this new colour edition with supporting CD-ROM has at last given this timeless masterpiece of art criticism the limelight it has long deserved. A cultural treasure trove for new acquaintances, for old fans the return of a sorely-missed truly multimodal companion.' Anthony Baldry, University of Messina, Italy Table of Contents1. Semiotics At Work 2. Bodily Perceptions: A Semiotics of Sculpture 3. A Semiotics of Architecture 4. Semiotics Across the Arts

    1 in stock

    £51.29

  • Test Your English Vocabulary in Use

    Cambridge University Press Test Your English Vocabulary in Use

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTest Your English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate Second edition contains 100 easy-to-use practice vocabulary tests with a clear marking system on each page so that progress can be easily checked. The book can be used on its own, for self-study or in the classroom, or to reinforce the vocabulary covered in English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate Third edition, available separately.

    1 in stock

    £19.60

  • Leaves of Grass

    WW Norton & Co Leaves of Grass

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis new annotated edition inlcudes "Live Oak, with Moss" and prose selections from "Democratic Vistas" and "Specimen Days". The text also presents a collection of Whitman's statements about his role as a poet taken from his notebooks, letters, conversations and newspaper articles.

    1 in stock

    £16.40

  • Poetics

    WW Norton & Co Poetics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis Norton Critical Edition of the world’s first major work of literary criticism is based on James Hutton’s acclaimed translation. The text and explanatory and glossarial notes represent the work of the accomplished Hellenists James Hutton and Michelle

    1 in stock

    £15.52

  • Song of the Earth

    Pan Macmillan Song of the Earth

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA work of literary criticism that may become - deserves to become - the most influential of its time' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday TimesTrade Review"'The most important critical work for decades' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times 'Bate presents his case with an emotional conviction which is almost impossible to resist' The Times 'Anyone familiar with Bate's The Genius of Shakespeare will know how winningly he marries erudition to liveliness' John Coldstream, Daily Telegraph 'I came away from the book deeply grateful for its impassioned song' Adam Thorpe, Sun. Tel."

    1 in stock

    £11.69

  • Professional English in Use Management with

    Cambridge University Press Professional English in Use Management with

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA must have for MBA students and professional managers who need to use English at work.

    1 in stock

    £32.59

  • Alexanders Successors and the Creation of

    Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Alexanders Successors and the Creation of

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £23.74

  • Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate

    Cambridge University Press Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA three-level (B1+ to C1) integrated skills course for higher education students at university or on foundation courses.

    1 in stock

    £39.58

  • The Maximus Poems

    University of California Press The Maximus Poems

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis work brings together the three volumes of Olson's long poem (originally published in 1960, 1968 and 1975 respectively) in one book.

    3 in stock

    £36.00

  • Shakespeares Comedies

    Oxford University Press Shakespeares Comedies

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom The Two Gentlemen of Verona in the early 1590s to The Two Noble Kinsmen at the end of his career around 1614, Shakespeare wrote at least eighteen plays that can be called ''comedies'': a far higher number than that for any other genre in which he wrote. So what is a Shakespearean comedy? We associate these plays with such themes as mistaken identities, happy marriages, and exuberant cross dressing, but how representative are these of the oeuvre as a whole? In this Very Short Introduction, Bart van Es explores the full range of the playwright''s comic writing, from the neat classical plotting of early works like The Comedy of Errors to the corrupt world of the so-called problem plays, written in the middle years of Shakespeare''s life. Examining Shakespeare''s influences and sources, van Es compares his plays to those of his rivals, and looks at the history of the plays in performance, from the biographies of Shakespeare''s original actors to the plays'' endless reinvention in modern stage productions and in films. Identifying the key qualities that make Shakespearean comedy distinctive, van Es traces the changing nature of Shakespeare''s comic writing over the course of a career that spanned nearly a quarter century of theatrical change.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewAimed at a general readership, the slim volume is nonetheless carefully researched and full of original ideas and connections. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *cover[s] an impressive amount of literary and historical ground, and convey[s] a suitably sizeable serving of Shakespeare knowledge. * Shakespeare Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; World ; Wit ; Love ; Time ; Character ; Endings ; Further Reading ; Index

    3 in stock

    £9.49

  • Elements of Style The

    Pearson Education Elements of Style The

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTable of ContentsFOREWORD. INTRODUCTION. I.ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE. 1.Form the Possessive Singular of Nouns by Adding 's. 2.In a Series of Three or More Terms with a Single Conjunction, Use a Comma after Each Term except the Last. 3.Enclose Parenthetic Expressions between Commas. 4.Place a Comma before a Conjunction Introducing an Independent Clause. 5.Do Not Join Independent Clauses with a Comma. 6.Do Not Break Sentences in Two. 7.Use a Colon after an Independent Clause to Introduce a List of Particulars, an Appositive, an Amplification, or an Illustrative Question. 8.Use a Dash to Set Off an Abrupt Break or Interruption and to Announce a Long Appositive or Summary. 9.The Number of the Subject Determines the Number of the Verb. 10.Use the Proper Case of Pronoun. 11.A Participial Phrase at the Beginning of the Sentence Must Refer to the Grammatical Subject. II.ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION. 12.Choose a Suitable Sesign and Hold to It. 13.Make the Paragraph the unit of Composition. 14.Use the Active Voice. 15.Put Statements in Positive Form. 16.Use Definite, Specific, Concrete Language. 17.Omit Needless Words. 18.Avoid a Succession of Loose Sentences. 19.Express Coordinate Ideas in Similar Form. 20.Keep Related Words Together. 21.In Summaries, Keep to One Tense. 22.Place the Emphatic Words of a Sentence at the End. III.A FEW MATTERS OF FORM. IV.WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS COMMONLY MISUSED. V.AN APPROACH TO STYLE (WITH A LIST OF REMINDERS). 1.Place Yourself in the Background. 2.Write in a Way That Comes Naturally. 3.Work From a Suitable Style. 4.Write with Nouns and Verbs. 5.Revise and Rewrite. 6.Do Not Overwrite. 7.Do Not Overstate. 8.Avoid the Use of Qualifiers. 9.Do Not Affect a Breezy Manner. 10.Use Orthodox Spelling. 11.Do Not Explain Too Much. 12.Do Not Construct Awkward Adverbs. 13.Make Sure the Reader Knows Who is Speaking. 14.Avoid Fancy Words. 15.Do Not Use Dialect Unless Your Ear Is Good. 16.Be Clear. 17.Do Not Inject Opinion. 18.Use Figures of Speech Sparingly. 19.Do Not Take Shortcuts at the Cost of Clarity. 20.Avoid Foreign Languages. 21.Prefer the Standard to the Offbeat. Afterword. Glossary.

    1 in stock

    £18.54

  • Oxford University Press Inc Anne Carson

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £22.99

  • Skills for Effective Writing Level 2 Students

    Cambridge University Press Skills for Effective Writing Level 2 Students

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSkills for Effective Writing teaches these skills, such as avoiding run-ons and using transition words, and offers extensive practice opportunities. When students master discrete skills, all of their writing improves. This allows teachers to focus their time and feedback on the content of student work.

    1 in stock

    £30.25

  • Oxford University Press Shakespeares Tragedies

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisTragedy, including grief, pain and suffering, is a common theme in Shakespeare''s plays, often leading to the death of at least one character, if not several. Yet such themes can also be found in Shakespearian plays which are classed as comedies, or histories. What is it which makes a Shakespearian tragedy, and what dramatic themes and conventions did the bard draw upon when writing them?In this Very Short Introduction Stanley Wells considers what is meant by the word ''tragedy'', and discusses nine of Shakespeare''s iconic tragic plays. He explores how the early definitions and theoretical discussions of the concept of tragedy in Shakespeare''s time would have influenced these plays, along with the literary influence of Seneca. Wells also considers Shakespeare''s uses of the word ''tragedy'' itself, analysing whether he had any overall concept of the genre in relation to the drama, and looking at the ways in which the theatrical conventions of his time shaped his plays, such as the use of boy players in women''s roles and the physical structures of the playhouses. Offering a critical analysis of each of the nine plays in turn, Wells concludes by discussing why tragedy is regarded as fit subject for entertainment, and what it is about tragic plays that audiences find so enjoyable.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Review... probably never - against the backdrop of so much literary, and other noise, today - has there ever been a greater need for short summaries of such works in an attempt to reach new audiences. So, from King Lear, to Antony and Cleopatra to Macbeth and Hamlet, et. al, the rudiments of all ten tragedies are condensed into just half a dozen pocket-sized pages each. Probably not for the connoiseur but much more likely for reluctant newbies still mystified by all the fuss. * Screentrade Magazine *cover[s] an impressive amount of literary and historical ground, and convey[s] a suitably sizeable serving of Shakespeare knowledge. * Shakespeare Magazine *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; REFERENCES; FURTHER READING; INDEX

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Diary of a Nobody

    Oxford University Press The Diary of a Nobody

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis`Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see - because I do not happen to be a `Somebody'' - why my diary should not be interesting.''The Diary of a Nobody (1892) created a cultural icon, an English archetype. Anxious, accident-prone, occasionally waspish, Charles Pooter has come to be seen as the epitome of English suburban life. His diary chronicles encounters with difficult tradesmen, the delights of home improvements, small parties, minor embarrassments, and problems with his troublesome son. The suburban world he inhabits is hilariously and painfully familiar in its small-mindedness and its essential decency. Both celebration and critique, The Diary of a Nobody has often been imitated, but never bettered. This edition features Weedon Grossmith''s hilarious illustrations and is complemented by an enjoyable introduction discussing the book''s social background and suburban fiction as a genre. ABOUT THE SE

    1 in stock

    £6.99

  • King John The Oxford Shakespeare

    Oxford University Press King John The Oxford Shakespeare

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisKing John, a play that offers at least three fine acting roles and was once popular in the theatre, has been neglected in recent years. Its treatment of the death of Arthur, claimant to the throne, and the wit of the Bastard, son of Richard Coeur de Lion, make it particularly worthy of reconsideration. The wide-ranging introduction makes original claims for the play''s relevance to Elizabethan political issues and for its aesthetic importance in Shakespeare''s early career as a dramatist. This edition also offers a comprehensive stage history, a thorough bibliographical study of the Folio (1623) text, and a reconsideration of its disputed relationship with the anonymous Troublesome Reign of King John (1591). A.R. Braunmuller provides new information concerning King John''s early stage history, consideration of legal concepts and practices in the play, and a critical study of its presentation of women and of families.Trade Review`The Oxford Shakespeare is an admirably scholarly edition, immaculately presented, offering close attention to possibilities of staging as well as meaning.' Dr D. Sedge, Exeter University`This edition offers the most substantial & one of the most penetrating discussions of the play to date. A remarkable scholarly achievement.' Dr René J.A. Weis, Department of English, University College, London`a most impressive and illuminating edition' R. N. Alexander, Queen Mary Westfield, London`The major strength of Professor Braunmuller's edition is its introduction. He offers a sane review of such difficult questions as the date of the play, and such controversial ones as its relation to "The Troublesome Reign". The evidence is marshalled in a lucid manner and sensible conclusions drawn ... This is a significant contribution to the (now quickly developing) debate on "King John", and a good demonstration that investigations of Shakespeare as a political dramatist (as opposed to a moral sage) need not be critically reductive.' The Review of English Studies`By its 'conventionally ordered introduction' (p.1), A.R. Braunmuller's Oxford King John signals that it is, indeed what the dustjacket claims, 'the most thorough scholarly edition now available' ... his edition foregrounds technical material important to scholars over more general interests ... Braunmuller's approach to editing is as fair-minded and scholarly as his introduction ... the King John that sets out the issues most fully and fairly, the edition I want in my study, is Braunmuller's 'conventionally ordered', scholarly text.' Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, Yearbook of English Studies, 1992'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times

    1 in stock

    £8.54

  • Oxford University Press Dante

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn this Very Short Introduction, Peter Hainsworth and David Robey take a different approach to Dante, by examining the main themes and issues that run through all of his work, ranging from autobiography, to understanding God and the order of the universe. In doing so, they highlight what has made Dante a vital point of reference for modern writers and readers, both inside and outside Italy. They emphasize the distinctive and dynamic interplay in Dante''s writing between argument, ideas, and analysis on the one hand, and poetic imagination on the other. Dante was highly concerned with the political and intellectual issues of his time, demonstrated most powerfully in his notorious work, The Divine Comedy. Tracing the tension between the medieval and modern aspects, Hainsworth and Robey provide a clear insight into the meaning of this masterpiece of world literature. They highlight key figures and episodes in the poem, bringing out the originality and power of Dante''s writing to help readers understand the problems that Dante wanted his audience to confront but often left up to the reader to resolve. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewThe authors are much to be praised for not allowing the brevity of their volume to undermine or unjustly foreclose what Dante's text leaves to his reader'a judgement and sensibilities. * Fortean Times, Heather Webb *Swift-moving, decisive, sensitive and suggestive * The Manchester Review *The authors are much to be praised for not allowing the brevity of their volume to overdetermine or unjustly foreclose what Dante's text leaves to his reader's judgement and sensibilties. * Heather Webb, The Times Literary Supplement *There is something almost uncanny about how this book makes the work of a long-dead poet from another culture come alive... this book imparts knowledge as well as encouraging us to find it ourselves. * Guardian, Nicholas Lezard *this work deftly explores aspects of Dante that were variously enlightened * Independent, Christopher Hirst *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Autobiography ; 3. Truth ; 4. Writing ; 5. Humanity ; 6. Politics ; 7. God ; Further reading ; Index

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Complete Odes and Epodes

    Oxford University Press The Complete Odes and Epodes

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHorace (65-8 BC) is one of the most important and brilliant poets of the Augustan Age of Latin literature whose influence on European literature is unparalleled. Horace''s Odes and Epodes constitute a body of Latin poetry equalled only by Virgil''s, astonishing us with leaps of sense and rich modulation, masterly metaphor, and exquisite subtlety. The Epodes include proto-Augustan poems, intent on demonstrating the tolerance, humour and the humanity of the new leaders of Rome, robust love poems, and poems of violent denunciation; the Odes echo Greek lyric poetry, reflecting on war, politics and the gods, and celebrating the pleasures of wine, friendship, love, poetry and music. Steeped in allusion to contemporary affairs, Horace''s verse is best read in terms of his changing relationship to the public sphere, and David West''s superb new translation is supplemented by a lucid introduction illuminating these complexities, extensive notes, a chronological survey and a glossary of names. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

    2 in stock

    £10.44

  • A Life

    Oxford University Press A Life

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis`every heart imagines itself the first to thrill to a myriad sensations which once stirred the hearts of the earliest creatures and which will again stir the hearts of the last men and women to walk the earth'' What is a life? How shall a storyteller conceive a life? What if art means pattern and life has none? How, then, can any story be true to life? These are some of the questions which inform the first of Maupassant''s six novels, A Life (Une Vie) (1883) in which he sought to parody and expose the folly of romantic illusion. An unflinching presentation of a woman''s life of failure and disappointments, where fulfilment and happiness might have been expected, A Life recounts Jeanne de Lamare''s gradual lapse into a state of disillusion. With its intricate network of parallels and oppositions, A Life reflects the influence of Flaubert in its attention to form and its coherent structure. It also expresses Maupassant''s characteristic naturalistic vision in which the satire of bourgeoTrade ReviewIn general, he [Pearson] shows himself sensitive to the various registers that Maupassant employs, and manages to convey the wistful flavour of this story of a largely disappointing life. * Robin Buss, TLS *It is possible to smile at the consistently downbeat tone, while at the same time admiring this finely constructed, austerely written tale. * Robin Buss, TLS *

    2 in stock

    £8.54

  • The Dawn of the Roman Empire

    Oxford University Press The Dawn of the Roman Empire

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisBooks 31 to 40 of Livy's history chart Rome's emergence as an imperial nation and the Romans tempestuous involvement with Greece, Macedonia and the near East in the opening decades of the second century BC; they are our most important source for Graeco-Roman relations in that century. Livy's dramatic narrative includes the Roman campaigns in Spain and against the Gallic tribes of Northern Italy; the flight of Hannibal from Carthage and his death in the East; thedebate on the Oppian law; and the Bacchanalian Episode.Trade ReviewAltogether [Yardley and Heckel] have combined their efforts to produce an exemplary volume which, as the only modern unabridged English translation of Livy 31-40, will do much to promote a renewed interest in this decade of Livy among both students and scholars. * John Jacobs, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

    2 in stock

    £12.34

  • Oxford University Press English Literature A Very Short Introduction

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisSweeping across two millennia and every literary genre, acclaimed scholar and biographer Jonathan Bate provides a dazzling introduction to English Literature. The focus is wide, shifting from the birth of the novel and the brilliance of English comedy to the deep Englishness of landscape poetry and the ethnic diversity of Britain''s Nobel literature laureates. It goes on to provide a more in-depth analysis, with close readings from an extraordinary scene in King Lear to a war poem by Carol Ann Duffy, and a series of striking examples of how literary texts change as they are transmitted from writer to reader. The narrative embraces not only the major literary movements such as Romanticism and Modernism, together with the most influential authors including Chaucer, Donne, Johnson, Wordsworth, Austen, Dickens and Woolf, but also little-known stories such as the identity of the first English woman poet to be honoured with a collected edition of her works. Written with the flair and passion for which Jonathan Bate has become renowned, this book is the perfect Very Short Introduction for all readers and students of the incomparable literary heritage of these islands.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewWhile exploring towering works, Bate remins us that literature can also be terrific fun. * Christopher Hirst. The Independent *Table of Contents1. Once upon a time ; 2. What it is ; 3. When it began ; 4. The study of English ; 5. Periods and movements ; 6. Among the English Poets ; 7. Shakespeare and dramatic literature ; 8. Aspects of the English novel ; 9. The Englishness of English literature ; Further Reading

    10 in stock

    £9.49

  • Son of Sin

    The 87 Press Son of Sin

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn this extraordinary work, Omar Sakr deftly weaves a multifaceted tale brimming with angels and djinn, racist kangaroos and adoring bats, examining with a poet's eye the destructive impetus of repressed desire and the complexities that make us human.

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Coleridge Darker Reflections

    HarperCollins Publishers Coleridge Darker Reflections

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisTimely reissue of the second volume of Holmes's classic biographies of one of the greatest Romantic poets.Richard Holmes's biography of Coleridge transforms our view of the poet of Kubla Khan' forever. Holmes's Coleridge leaps out of these pages as the brilliant, animated and endlessly provoking poet of genius that he was.This second volume covers the last 30 years of Coleridge's career (1804-1834) during which he travelled restlessly through the Mediterranean, returned to his old haunts in the Lake District and the West Country, and finally settled in Highgate. It was a period of domestic and professional turmoil. His marriage broke up, his opium addiction increased, he quarrelled with Wordsworth, his own son Hartley Coleridge (a gifted poet himself) became an alcoholic. And after a desperate time of transition, Coleridge re-emerged on the literary scene as a new kind of philosophical and meditative author.Trade Review’One of the greatest biographies of the century. Pure joy to read, it is a shimmering portrait of the mature artist veering between brilliance and despair’ Financial Times ’This – and I can’t remember ever thinking this before so strongly – is a biography to grow old with’ Independent

    2 in stock

    £16.19

  • Law Surveillance and the Humanities

    Edinburgh University Press Law Surveillance and the Humanities

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisExamines the use, evolution, legitimacy, and implications of surveillance with contributions from the fields of literary studies, law, philosophy, sociology, and politics.

    1 in stock

    £22.49

  • The Gods Will Have Blood Les Dieux Ont Soif

    Penguin Books Ltd The Gods Will Have Blood Les Dieux Ont Soif

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA Penguin ClassicIt is April 1793 and the final power struggle of the French Revolution is taking hold: the aristocrats are dead and the poor are fighting for bread in the streets. In a Paris swept by fear and hunger lives Gamelin, a revolutionary young artist appointed magistrate, and given the power of life and death over the citizens of France. But his intense idealism and unbridled single-mindedness drive him inexorably towards catastrophe. Published in 1912, The Gods Will Have Blood is a breathtaking story of the dangers of fanaticism, while its depiction of the violence and devastation of the Reign of Terror is strangely prophetic of the sweeping political changes in Russia and across Europe.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and diTrade ReviewBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Antony and Cleopatra

    Penguin Putnam Inc Antony and Cleopatra

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages.

    1 in stock

    £8.54

  • Narrative Discourse Revisited

    Cornell University Press Narrative Discourse Revisited

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £19.94

  • Feminist Theory

    Pluto Press Feminist Theory

    Book SynopsisA sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics by one of feminism’s most important and critical voicesTrade Review'An intelligently critical, inclusive, personal and very accessible feminist polemic' -- Theory.orgTable of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction 1. The Subversive Image 2. Inner Experience 3. Sovereignty 4. The Tears of Eros 5. The Accursed Share Conclusion Notes and References Bibliography Index

    £22.49

  • Shakespeares Original Pronunciation Speeches and

    British Library Publishing Shakespeares Original Pronunciation Speeches and

    Book SynopsisHow did Shakespeare sound to the audiences of his day? For the first time this disc offers listeners the chance to hear England's greatest playwright performed by a company of actors using the pronunciation of his time.Trade ReviewAn enthusiastic bunch of actors demonstrate how the Bard s sonnets, songs and various famous scenes from his plays would have sounded to Elizabethan audiences. Pronounce hour as a 16th-century actor would have, that is, to rhyme with whore, and listen to the double entendres multiply. Eng lit aficionados will love it. --Sue Arnold "Guardian "" "An enthusiastic bunch of actors demonstrate how the Bard's sonnets, songs and various famous scenes from his plays would have sounded to Elizabethan audiences. Pronounce 'hour' as a 16th-century actor would have, that is, to rhyme with 'whore, ' and listen to the double entendres multiply. Eng lit aficionados will love it." --Sue Arnold "Guardian "

    £10.71

  • RQuiem Por Un Campesino EspaOl Hispanic Texts

    Manchester University Press RQuiem Por Un Campesino EspaOl Hispanic Texts

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis edition of a novel inspired by the Spanish Civil War, offers notes and an introduction, which have been compiled in the light of recent socio-political, topic-based syllabuses and communications studies courses.Table of Contents"Contraataque"; "Requiem per un campesino espanol"; the major novels of Sender; "Requiem por un Campesino Espanol".

    2 in stock

    £14.24

  • The Greek Anthology Volume I

    Harvard University Press The Greek Anthology Volume I

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Greek Anthology contains some 4,500 Greek poems in the sparkling, diverse genre of epigram, written by more than a hundred composers, collected over centuries, and arranged by subject. This Loeb edition replaces the earlier edition by W. R. Paton, with a Greek text and ample notes reflecting current scholarship.Trade ReviewUnder the auspices of the Loeb Classical Library, Michael A. Tueller has published the first volume (books one to five of sixteen) of a projected complete edition of the whole gigantic thing—a fully updated revision of W.R. Paton’s five-volume Loeb from a hundred years ago. It is an ambitious and worthy enterprise. -- Hayden N. Pelliccia * New York Review of Books *

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Civil War

    Loeb Civil War

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisCivil War provides a vigorous, direct, clear, third-personal, impassioned account of Caesar’s campaigns during the civil war of 49­–48 BC, drawn from his three books of commentarii.

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Early Greek Philosophy Volume V

    Harvard University Press Early Greek Philosophy Volume V

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisVolume V of the nine-volume Loeb edition of Early Greek Philosophy includes the western Greek thinkers Parmenides, Zeno, Melissus, Empedocles, Alcmaeon, and Hippo.Trade ReviewIn brief, André Laks and Glenn Most give us a brilliant and beautiful reference work that can, at the same time, be easily enough read straight through. And spending a few months doing so gives the reader almost all that she needs (perhaps along with Loeb #258, Greek Elegiac Poetry) to reconstruct for herself the origins of the discipline of philosophy. I should want any graduate student or colleague in ancient philosophy or intellectual history to acquire and make their way through it. -- Christopher Moore * Classical Journal *The publication of the Loeb Classical Library’s nine-volume set, Early Greek Philosophy, gives us a new edition of the original texts, with fresh translations. It is a monumental achievement—the result of many years of dedicated work on the part of the two editors/translators André Laks and Glenn W. Most… We owe a profound debt of gratitude to the editors/translators for their thorough and impeccable scholarship, and to the publishers for their usual high standards of production. If you can afford them, don’t hesitate: you will be all the richer for having these volumes on your shelves. -- Jeremy Naydler * Minerva *André Laks and Glenn W. Most have made available to the world of scholarship in early Greek philosophy a resource of immense value. Every study of a thinker or of an issue within the thematic ambit of Early Greek Philosophy must henceforth start by canvassing and taking into account the appropriate selections in the Loeb set. -- Alexander P. D. Mourelatos * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *The publication of a Loeb Classical Library edition of the evidence for early Greek philosophy is a major event in classical scholarship…The editors and their assistants are to be commended for their exemplary execution of such a vast and difficult task. They have succeeded in producing what is far and away the best available edition of the texts of the early Greek philosophers with accompanying English translation…More than that, their edition effectively supersedes Hermann Diels and Walter Kranz’s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, which has long held sway as the standard edition of the Presocratics, but it only does so because Laks and Most have respectfully taken Diels-Kranz as their model…Laks and Most have set such a high standard with this work that it is hard to imagine that we will see a better general collection on early Greek philosophy in our lifetimes…Laks and Most’s philological acumen, judiciousness as editors, and excellence as translators is evident on every page. -- John Palmer * Arion *

    2 in stock

    £23.70

  • Main Street

    Random House Publishing Group Main Street

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £6.78

  • Now All Roads Lead to France The Last Years of

    Faber & Faber Now All Roads Lead to France The Last Years of

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisEdward Thomas was perhaps the most beguiling and influential of First World War poets. Now All Roads Lead to France is an account of his final five years, centred on his extraordinary friendship with Robert Frost and Thomas''s fatal decision to fight in the war.The book also evokes an astonishingly creative moment in English literature, when London was a battleground for new, ambitious kinds of writing. A generation that included W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost and Rupert Brooke were ''making it new'' - vehemently and pugnaciously. These larger-than-life characters surround a central figure, tormented by his work and his marriage. But as his friendship with Frost blossomed, Thomas wrote poem after poem, and his emotional affliction began to lift. In 1914 the two friends formed the ideas that would produce some of the most remarkable verse of the twentieth century. Their writing was far more than just war poetry, but it was World War I that put an ocean b

    1 in stock

    £12.34

  • Selected Poems of Stephen Spender

    Faber & Faber Selected Poems of Stephen Spender

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisStephen Spender, the son of a journalist, was born in London in 1909. He was educated at University College, Oxford, where he met, among others, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and Louis MacNeice, with whom he was to develop a poetics of engagement, writing powerfully of the confusion and alarm of 1930s Europe. He visited Spain during the Civil War, in 1937, where he assisted the Republican cause with propaganda activity. His post-war memoir World within World was recognised as one of the most illuminating literary autobiographies to have come out of the 1930s and 1940s, distilling a distinctively personal, humanistic socialism. His poetry has been praised for its exploratory candour, its personal approach to the stresses of modernity, and its exact portraiture of social and political upheaval. Grey Gowrie''s new selection offers a timely and incisive revaluation of Spender''s substantial poetic corpus.

    1 in stock

    £15.29

  • Im the King of the Castle York Notes for GCSE

    Pearson Education Im the King of the Castle York Notes for GCSE

    5 in stock

    'York Notes for GCSE' offers a useful approach to English Literature and aims to help readers achieve a better grade. Updated to reflect the needs of today's students, the new editions are filled with detailed summaries, commentaries on key themes, characters, language and style, illustrations, exam advice and much more.

    5 in stock

    £7.49

  • Feeling Backward

    Harvard University Press Feeling Backward

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisLove weighs the costs of the contemporary move to the mainstream in lesbian and gay culture. While widening tolerance for same-sex marriage and gay-themed media brings clear benefits, assimilation entails losses hard to identify or mourn, since many aspects of historical gay culture are so closely associated with the pain and shame of the closet.Trade ReviewIn supple readings of difficult, sometimes disturbing, yet always fascinating texts and contexts, Heather Love demonstrates that if we are to seriously engage with the queer past we must welcome the shame, fear, loneliness, obstinacy, and indeed backwardness that we encounter there. For all that, Feeling Backward: Loss and the Politics of Queer History, with its beautiful prose, stunning theoretical sophistication, careful attention to detail, as well as a hard-headed respect for the artists and critics whom it treats, is a stunningly hopeful book. Throughout Love links her critiques of celebratory queer criticism with a passionate concern for the opening up of progressive forms of intellectual and political life. -- Robert F. Reid-Pharr, author of Once You Go Black: Choice, Desire and the Black American IntellectualHeather Love is the Marcel Proust of contemporary theory. Disappointed love and tormented desire find a compassionate commentator in Love, who turns to queer history's tragic, lonely, and despairing figures, not to sublimate or to save them, but to recognize and to respect them. A wise, worldly, and winning book. -- Diana Fuss, Professor of English, Princeton UniversityNow that, in the latest twist of tolerance, gays are required to flaunt their well-adjustedness, Feeling Backward may feel backward indeed as it contemplates the pain, anger, isolation, and sheer crankiness, prominent in literary figures of our queer past. But it is harder than ever to pause for thought—and not simply revulsion or compassion—over these prickly and unwholesome feelings, which lead an increasingly closeted existence in ourselves. Heather Love is in astonishing possession of the negative capability required by her undertaking, and her analytic finesse proves well-matched to her ethical delicacy. This book—together with the constellation of work it gathers around itself—belongs to what may deservedly be called a new wave in queer studies. -- D.A. Miller, University of California, BerkeleyLike Lot's wife, I like to look over my shoulder too much at salty scenes from the shameful past-- though I've yet to turn into a pillar of the community. The delightfully named Heather Love makes all that hankering after pre-gay sex on Hampstead Heath seem slightly romantic and illuminates why and how the queer past is not always about waiting for Stonewall and disco to happen. -- Mark Simpson, Editor of Anti-GayWhat does it mean to "feel backward"? By turning to, rather than away from, the texts of shame, injury, loss and failure that populate a queer past, Heather Love manages to shift queer studies away from the straight and narrow and back onto the slippery slope of stigma and dismay. Love refuses the triumphalist accounts of gay and lesbian progress and she insists on the spoiling of identity and on the political importance of "bad feelings." This is a rigorous book, a brave book, a wildly original and unrelenting book. It will be a central text in the backward future of queer studies. -- Judith Halberstam, author of In a Queer Time and PlaceIt seems to me this discontinuous book is a little bit like the stations of the cross. I mean if you like to stop, and most of us do. And sometimes the street was filled with us. All thinking about someone else. They are the past inside our present. He just put one in a cab. I like Feeling Backward... a lot. -- Eileen Myles, poetIn this interesting study of modernist literature and the challenges of history, the author encourages readers to consider how early-20th-century moments once labeled embarrassing, troubling, and evil continue to have an affect. Drawing from the psychoanalysis of Jacques Lacan, the Marxist philosophy of Raymond Williams, and other schools of thought, Love rereads the works of Radclyffe Hall, Walter Pater, Willa Cather, and Sylvia Townsend Warner--often considered to turn away from an image of a brighter future for queer readers--in order to consider the "backward feelings" of shame, depression, and regret and describe how these texts have fallen into critical disrepute among queer theorists and scholars...This book is for those interested in the politics and history of emotion and sensibility. -- J. Pruitt * Choice *Feeling Backward is a brilliant work...Love looks fearlessly at literature from the past in which circumstances related to gender tend to produce victims rather than heroines. She establishes that our literature has been affected by homophobia and demands that we consider the implications of this fact. Love contends that we need to look at history and social politics less like Lot's wife, who's destroyed by looking back, and more like Odysseus, who listens to the past but isn't destroyed by it. The past haunts us whether we acknowledge it or not; we may be "looking forward," as we like to assure ourselves, even as we're "feeling backward." -- Martha Miller * Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide *Feeling Backward is a brilliant book that attempts the "impossible" and succeeds. Using Michel Foucault and Eve Sedgwick as theoretical touchstones, and incorporating Raymond Williams's "structures of feeling," Heather Love "feels backward" to reimagine and connect with aspects of a queer past that had been rendered invisible. In doing so--in risking (as she puts it) the fate of Lot's wife in turning back to revisit a painful past--she embraces the ruins, the "fugitive dead," the loneliness and failures and all the "negative affect" that need to be reclaimed as part of that history...Love moves bravely backwards to that murky time, the "queer life before Stonewall," and then crosses the modernist line backwards to feel what has been lost. In doing so she has made a profoundly imaginative and powerful contribution to queer history. -- Rick Taylor * Feminist Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Emotional Rescue 2. Permanent Exile: Walter Pater's Queer Modernism 3. The End of Friendship: Willa Cather's Sad Kindred 4. Unwanted Being: Stephen Gordon's Spoiled Identity 5. Impossible Objects: Sylvia Townsend Warner and the Longing for Revolution Epilogue: The Politics of Refusal Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £23.36

  • Apollonius of Tyana Volume II

    Harvard University Press Apollonius of Tyana Volume II

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn his Life of Apollonius Philostratus (second to third century AD) chronicles the miracles of first-century AD teacher, religious reformer, and perceived rival to Jesus of Nazareth, Apollonius of Tyana.Trade ReviewJones has produced a superlative edition. Loebs are hard to get right. A good Loeb should (if we are honest) be easily usable as a clandestine crib for the (lazy, hurried, or linguistically challenged) reader who wants to translate the Greek with an eye on the English; at the same time, it should meet exacting standards of scholarship. Jones's is accessible and erudite. His discussion of how he has established his text is fuller and clearer than most, and allows the non-specialist to take some pleasure in the detective work involved in the process; in tracing, for example, Richard Bentley's marginalia preserved in his copy of a previous edition. The text is judicious and the translation stylishly capture's the sophist's rhetorical range. It is based on, but betters, Christopher Jones's abridged translation for Penguin Classics, published in 1970. It is a good read in its own right: no mean feat. Excellent introductory material and maps help chart Apollonius's imaginary journey. He may no longer be worshipped (except in the wackier corners of cyberspace), but nonetheless we can rightly say: Apollonius Lives! -- Helen Morales * Times Literary Supplement *

    1 in stock

    £23.70

  • Selected Poems of W B Yeats York Notes Advanced

    Pearson Education Selected Poems of W B Yeats York Notes Advanced

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis'York Notes Advanced' offer an accessible approach to English Literature. This series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced introduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The poems Part 3: Critical approachs Part 4: Critical history Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

    1 in stock

    £7.99

  • King Lear York Notes Advanced  everything you

    Pearson Education King Lear York Notes Advanced everything you

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Text Part 3: Critical Approaches Part 4: Critical History Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

    2 in stock

    £7.99

  • Classical Literature

    John Wiley and Sons Ltd Classical Literature

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis* A accessible one--volume survey of the literature of Greece and Rome. * Covers the period between Homer around 700 BC and Augustine around AD 410. * Highlights what is important historically and of continuing interest and value in classical literature.Trade Review"The book is a tour de force ... Rutherford speaks directly to his readers, telling them what they need to know to set a work into its historical and social context ... Even scholars who are completely familiar with all the texts Rutherford discusses will profit from consulting this book." Times Literary Supplement 'Rutherford's book provides an accessible, affordable, and concise introduction to its topic.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review "As well as Rutherford's broader constituency, this book should make particularly invaluable reading for undergraduates, sixth-formers who are looking to pursue Classics at university (and it should be a must for school libraries)." Greece and RomeTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Maps. Introduction. 1. Epic. 2. Drama. 3. Rhetoric. 4. History, Biography, Fiction. 5. Erotic Literature. 6. Literature and Power. 7. Aspects of Wit. 8. Thinkers. 9. Believers. Appendix 1 Translations of Four Longer Passages. Appendix 2 Timeline. Appendix 3 List of Roman Emperors. Appendix 4 Major Greek and Roman Gods. Notes. Further Reading. Index

    1 in stock

    £31.30

  • Émile Zola

    Oxford University Press Émile Zola

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisÉmile Zola was the leader of the literary movement known as ''naturalism'' and is one of the great figures of the novel. In his monumental Les Rougon-Macquart (1871-93), he explored the social and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth century in ways that scandalized bourgeois society. Zola opened the novel up to a new realm of subjects, including the realities of working-class life, class relations, and questions of gender and sexuality, and his writing embodied a new freedom of expression, with his bold, outspoken voice often inviting controversy. In this Very Short Introduction, Brian Nelson examines Zola''s major themes and narrative art. He illuminates the social and political contexts of Zola''s work, and provides readings of five individual novels (The Belly of Paris, L''Assommoir, The Ladies'' Paradise, Germinal, and Earth). Zola''s naturalist theories, which attempted to align literature with science, helped to generate the stereotypical notion that his fiction was somehow nonfictional. Nelson, however, reveals how the most distinctive elements of Zola''s writing go far beyond his theoretical naturalism, giving his novels their unique force. Throughout, he sets Zola''s work in context, considering his relations with contemporary painters, his role in the Dreyfus Affair, and his eventual murder. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewIts highlights are the short yet lucid English translations from Zola's French and vivid plot summaries. * Sucheta Kapoor, Techno India University, West Bengal , Nineteenth-Century French Studies *As an introduction to Zola's life and work, Nelson's little book cannot be faulted: it is grounded in a specialist's mastery of the field; it is completed by a reliable chronology; and its invitation to read further is supported by a bibliography listing major editions in French as well as critical studies in English which range from the accessible to the scholarly. * Robert Lethbridge, Journal of European Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of illustrations Introduction 1 Zola and the art of fiction 2 Before the Rougon-Macquart 3 The fat and the thin: The Belly of Paris 4 'A work of truth': L'Assommoir 5 The man-eater: Nana 6 The dream machine: The Ladies' Paradise 7 Down the mine: Germinal 8 The Great Mother: Earth 9 After the Rougon-Macquart A chronology of Zola's life and works References Further reading

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami

    University of Minnesota Press The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami

    Book SynopsisTrade Review" In a masterful synthesis, Matthew Strecher delves deeply into questions of language, religion, mythology, psychology, and the boundaries between literature and journalism to demonstrate with great clarity and concreteness how Murakami belongs in the company of such writers as Pynchon, Eco, and Rushdie." —Jay Rubin, author of Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words"This guide clearly synthesizes the inner world enshrining Haruki Murakami’s characters."—World Literature Today"Strecher’s latest book is erudite without being overly academic. A lively and engaging read."—The Japan Times"Strecher neatly maps out the impression the young Murakami made on the hidebound world of Japanese literature and its overarching literary guild, one entrenched by respect, routine, and what literature ought to do."—Pop Matters"An original and insightful book—a genuine pleasure to read."—H-Net"Useful for providing frames through which to read Murakami and for a detailed overview of his work."—CHOICE"This well-researched monograph not only contributes to deepening our understanding of Murakami’s work, but, more importantly, Strecher reaffirms the bottomless possibilities to enjoy reading this author’s stories."—Asian Studies Review"Like its subject, Strecher’s book does not offer an overall master map to this world but rather presents us with a variety of intriguing ideas to ponder and to provoke us toward our own interpretations of this tantalizing, multifaceted author."—Journal of Japanese StudiesTable of ContentsContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Power of the “Story” 1. New Words, New Worlds2. Into the Mad, Metaphysical Realm3. Gods and Oracles, Fate and Mythology4. Murakami Haruki as Literary Journalist5. Forbidden Dreams from “Over There”Epilogue: The Roads Not TakenNotesBibliographyIndex

    £17.09

  • The Intimacies of Four Continents

    Duke University Press The Intimacies of Four Continents

    Book SynopsisReading across archives, canons, and continents, Lisa Lowe examines the relationships between Europe, Asia, and the Americas in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth- centuries. She argues that Western liberal ideology, African slavery, Asian indentured labor, colonialism and trade must be understood as being mutually constitutive.Trade Review"This is a challenging book, which should be read by all those interested in the history of capitalism and the formation of the social sciences. ...There is much to enjoy in each of these chapters, especially, the dialectical interweaving of liberal conceptions and their negation, and the careful delineation of context and claim. Ultimately, however, the book is a dissection of liberalism and its fractured and fracturing presence in the modern world." -- John Holmwood * Theory, Culture & Society *"Lisa Lowe’s ambitious new book is a reminder of the deft footwork now required of anyone attempting to negotiate this tricky terrain. In The Intimacies of Four Continents she aligns herself with postcolonial scholars like Ann Laura Stoler, Antoinette Burton, or Nayan Shah who have each provided a distinctive take on how ‘the “intimate” sphere of sexual, reproductive, or household relations’ served as ‘a site of empire’.” -- David Glover * New Formations *"[An] important asset to anyone interested in not just themes of colonialism, labour, trade, and slavery, and of Chinese Canadian prairie history respectively, but also critical methodologies—of how to read intimately for relations between people and communities and in relation across time and space—in order to grasp the possibilities of knowing that lie among what has been assumed unknowable, erased, or forgotten." -- Stephanie Fung * Canadian Literature *"Among the many fascinating contributions of the book, I found one of the most arresting to be Lowe’s suggestion in her voluminous discursive footnotes that contemporary neoliberalism, with its emphasis on 'human capital' around the world, needs to be linked with its prehistory of racialized commodification of people. For that insight alone, Lowe’s panoramic study is more than worth reading." -- Samuel Moyn * Canadian Journal of History *"Reading The Intimacies of Four Continents will change the way we look at global (and national) histories forever." -- Etsuko Taketani * Journal of American History *"The Intimacies of Four Continents will undoubtedly remain a touchstone text for those working...and struggling against those operations that continue to pronounce colonial divisions of humanity at once globally and in their local, regional, and differential instantiations." -- Hossein Ayazi * Qui Parle *"[A] work crucial for thinking not only about the history of modernity and empire but also about our enduring and decisive enterprise as readers." -- Harrod J Suarez * MELUS *Table of Contents1. The Intimacies of Four Continents 1 2. Autobiography Out of Empire 43 3. A Fetishism of Colonial Commodities 73 4. The Ruses of Liberty 101 5. Freedoms Yet to Come 135 Acknowledgments 177 Notes 181 References 269 Index 305

    £20.69

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