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English
Description
"Henry James: A Very Short Introduction places Henry James's notoriously difficult writings in their historical and biographical context. Henry James had a major impact on the literary culture of his time and ever since. From his childhood through his mature life, James created a unique body of fiction, travel writing, reviews, and theory that represents one of the greatest achievements in America's literary history. This VSI studies various fictional...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 30
Language
English
Description
Descartes is perhaps best known for his statement, "Cogito, ergo sum," the cornerstone of his metaphysics. But he did not intend the metaphysics to stand apart from his scientific work, which included important investigations into physics, mathematics, and optics. In this book, Sorell shows that Descarates was, above all, an advocate and practitioner of the new mathematical approach to physics, and that he developed his philosophies to support his...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 534
Language
English
Description
Of all Shakespeare's great canon of work, it is his sonnets and poems which include the fullest exploration and expression of the themes of love, lust, and the consequences of desire. In this "Very Short Introduction" Jonathan Post introduces all of Shakespeare's poetry: the sonnets; the two great narrative poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece" ; "A Lover's Complaint" and "The Phoenix and the Turtle." Taking into account Shakespeare's...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 650
Language
English
Description
George Bernard Shaw has been called the second greatest playwright in English (after William Shakespeare) and one of the inventors of modern celebrity as the most famous public intellectual of his time. Beginning in the 1880s, as a critic and as a playwright, he transformed British drama, bringing to it intellectual substance, ethical imperatives, and modernity itself, setting the theatrical course for the subsequent century. That his legacy endures...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 685
Language
English
Description
Highlights one of the most influential writers of the 20th century--James Joyce. He is best known for his complex style, reinvention of language, and depiction of contemporary Ireland. Yet at the time of writing his work faced intense criticism, and his modernist epic Ulysses was banned for over a decade in Britain and America for obscenity. This book explores Joyce's major works including Ulysses, Dubliners, and Finnegans Wake. It considers the contemporary...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 611
Language
English
Description
Covering Geoffrey Chaucer's life and work, David Wallace considers the influence and enduring appeal of his body of writing, explores the wide ranging geography and iconic characters in his stories, and discusses how Chaucer's own experiences contributed to his literature.
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 694
Language
English
Description
"Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction combines critical introductions to each of Jane Austen's major novels with an exploration of the themes of Austen's writing. Austen wrote six of the best-loved novels in the English language, as well as a smaller corpus of works unpublished in her day. She pioneered new techniques for representing voices, minds, and hearts in narrative prose, and was a penetrating satirist of social tensions and trends. This...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 48
Language
English
Description
From the Publisher: One of the most profound thinkers of modern history, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) was a central figure of the European Enlightenment. He was also its most formidable critic, condemning the political, economic, theological, and sexual trappings of civilization along lines that would excite the enthusiasm of romantic individualists and radical revolutionaries alike. In this study of Rousseau's life and works, Robert Wolker shows...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 591
Language
English
Description
Beloved by children and adults worldwide, the writings of C.S. Lewis have a broad and enduring appeal. Although best known for the iconic Chronicles of Narnia series, Lewis was actually a man of many literary parts, including satire, science fiction, sermons, poetry, and prose. Taken together, his writings reflect a life in which he came to his knowledge, beliefs, and wisdom only after much soul-searching and many painful events. Delving into the...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 594
Language
English
Description
This book covers the life and work of Charles Dickens, with examples taken from all his major works and writing. It considers the key themes in Dickens's novels, and the way in which he used his writing to critique the great dehumanising structures, ideologies, and bureaucracies of nineteenth-century Britain. This book examines the potent and multiple after-lives of Dickens's novels, and their ongoing impact today. It explores Dickens's own career...
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English
Description
"Kafka's fiction vividly evokes bizarre situations: a commercial traveller is turned into an insect, a banker is arrested by a mysterious court, and a singing mouse becomes the heroine of her nation. Attending both to Kafka's crisis-ridden life and to the subtleties of his art, Ritchie Robertson shows how his work explores such characteristically modern themes as the place of the body in culture, the power of institutions over people, and the possibility...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 604
Language
English
Description
"War and Peace and Anna Karenina are widely recognized as two of the greatest novels ever written. Their author Leo Tolstoy has been honored as the father of the modern war story, as an innovator in psychological prose, and as a genius at using fiction to reveal the mysteries of love and death. At the time of his death in 1910, Tolstoy was known the world over as both a great writer and as a merciless critic of institutions that perpetrated, bred,...