Customer Reviews

Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia 5e: Fifth Edition

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12 years since its last edition, this popular reference book has finally been updated, but the update is sadly disappointing. Why? Because other than updating information on contemporary authors and the addition of a few new entries (very few) it is basically the same book as the 1996 edition. Same editor, same layout, same font, same previous entries (word for word). In fact, there were so few new entries and modification of previous entries that in a few parts the text and page breaks of the 1996 book line up exactly with this 2008 edition. I should have sensed this before I bought the book, as there are only 66 pages more than the 1996 edition, with Bruce Murphy (who by this poor "editing" job is obviously a disinterested if not lazy academic) kept as the same editor. (If Murphy had no control, I apologize for the criticism.)

With the expansion of knowledge and information now available to so many more people (sparked almost exclusively by the Internet), one might think Benet's would have been due for a new look, if not complete overhaul. In other words, Benet's needed a substantial improvement over previous editions (which had many flaws) to inject some new knowledge and assessments of literary figures and works.

But there has been no improvement. Not even close. The editors and publisher of this Benet's edition continue to be stale and unimaginative, stuck in a time warp of bygone age. Maybe they just stalled on the on-ramp of the information superhighway. Rather than reflect the Darwinian struggle to evolve, Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia has devolved into a dinosaur in the Information Age.

Here are some changes I think were needed:

-Complete re-evaluation (if not revision) of numerous entries that have been left unchanged by Benet's for decades. Are all these previous entries in past editions of Benet's so well researched and infallible that they need no amending? In E.L. Doctorow's novel "Ragtime", the entry still says the protagonist (Colehouse Walker) "is probably based on composer Scott Joplin", which is complete nonsense. Walker is likely based on a character in a von Kleist novel.

-There also is no need any more for short paragraphs on selected U.S. Presidents, explorers, painters and other non-literary figures because the information is so sparse anyway it's essentially a waste to include them. Benet's should largely specialize in literature and not continue to be a pseudo -general reference book.

-More entries of contemporary authors. If you are looking to see if some of your favorite contemporary authors have now made it into this book, be ready for a letdown. James Patterson, Sue Grafton, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, (or pick your favorite living author) are now in here right? Sorry. Although Harry Potter has an entry, J.K. Rowling does not. You won't see Dan Brown or his "The Da Vinci Code" in here either. Of course Benet's has always looked at literary popularity equaling literary merit with a jaded eye (with some justification) so perhaps it is not surprising none of the aforementioned made the cut for the antiquated criteria of Benet's. It is unfortunate the stodgy Benet's still prefers entries for long dead, long forgotten authors who even at their best would now be considered pedestrian, and dated literary works that are never read and have not stood the test of time.

-Deletion of dated entries and ones that just don't seem to fit. Does Nazi Joachim von Ribbentrop really belong in the 2008 Benet's? (maybe in the 1948 Benet's, not 2008) French 18th century General Rochambeau? French journalist Jaures?

-More separate entries for recent novels and other literary works written within the last 15 years. (Benet's has none for any recent novels). How about entries for some notable Booker Prize winning novels such as "The Remains of the Day" (Ishiguro) or the "Life of Pi" (Yann Martel). (I believe there is only one separate entry for any Booker Prize winning book.)

-More emphasis on children's literature (other than the standard famous works).

-More entries for literary characters

-The book badly needed an infusion of creativity. Maybe include the origin of some famous nursery rhymes, add some famous literary quotes, literary settings, literary works made into film. Use your imagination.

Including all of these suggestions would add several hundred pages to this book, but would this really be a problem if you are trying to make this a pre-eminent literary reference? There are many good reference books around and over 2000 pages, so what's a few extra hundred pages for a book that is now barely 1200 pages.

If you have never read Benet's, there is still a fair amount of literary information. On literary information alone, the Benet's is a good 3 stars. Nevertheless, there is no excuse why Benet's is not a better book, and it is sad to see how this venerable reference book has regressed. Admittedly, this review is somewhat skewed by my expectations of what I think Benet's should be, but there lies my main point' Benet's has not improved, and it needs to in order to stay relevant. With information so plentiful via the Internet, I believe this book may have run its course. 12 years since the last edition, I will be surprised if there is another edition after this one.

If you still want the updated version, here is a little of what this edition has added (although as stated earlier, there are not that many new entries, and no revision of older ones. The proof reading also shows sloppiness, William Styron is listed as living, he died in 2006). A few new entries in this 2008 edition include:

David Foster Wallace, Roman Polanski, James Ellroy, I.M. Pei, Louise Erdrich, Ellen Gilchrest, Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), Robert J. Oppenheimer, and the Uncertainty Principle. A number of authors, especially from Africa Asia, and Latin America, make their first appearance. There are now separate entries for "Night" (by Elie Wiesel), "A Clockwork Orange", "Fahrenheit 451", "The Satanic Verses", "The Sheltering Sky" and a few other noted works. Contemporary authors in previous editions of Benet's have been now been updated. For easier reading, all cross-references are now shown in extra-large capital letters.

Reading along and there is a reference to a character in literature and you cannot remember who this is or in what context it relates to the current thing you are reading? Then this is the reference book for you! Look up authors, places and characters.

This book is one of the most complete sources of information for literature and other things of cultural importance. I use it for Brain Bowl and since I've been reading entries in Benet's, my scores have improved. The plot summaries are concise without leaving out any important details. Plenty of cross-references. The biographies are also thorough without being too dry.

You won't find this range of entries in a single volume. Whether you want to look up Jesus, Dickens, crime novelist Jim Thompson, the gods of classical mythology, or the origin of the term "troglodyte," Benet's is your most reliable source. I found this particular edition compulsively readable---an exciting way to expand my knowledge of history, art and literature. I would recommend the fifth edition to all graduate students who are preparing for comprehensive examinations in the liberal arts.

As the preface makes clear, this edition broadens the cultural content by updating existing entries and adding new ones on contemporary subjects like Basquiat, the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, Ian McEwan, and Martin Scorsese. New book entries include Naked Lunch, The Sheltering Sky, and The Damnation of Theron Ware. I'm certain there are others.

Benet's is not a dictionary of contemporary writers. You will not find all of the paperbacks on the supermarket fiction racks, but you will be blessed with succinct, informative explanations of jihad, neurophilosophy, and the blacklist. Benet's is a classic literary reference, and this edition provides captivating critical assessments of contemporary scholarship and popular culture. The test of such a book is what you can learn from it. Apart from entries on books and people, I found the explanations of terms and ideas (gesaku, puja,
Haskalah, etc.) fascinating. I bought the 4th edition back in
the 90s. This volume is even richer.

The Benet Reader's Encyclopedia (5th ed.) is just about the best one volume-reference book on the market--good for general reference of all things literate. It's well written, and good for browsing for current and ancient literature. Very good for information on authors and numerous characters from literature. Buy it abd the sixth edition whenever it is published.

Excellent work in giving information about things that readers would want to know. It is a good aid for further information on many literary subjects. This edition updates the previous work.

For years, I've been using the 2nd edition (1965) of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, but as helpful as it is, it just doesn't tell me anything about the last 40+ years of literature! So I bought the latest edition, and I'm delighted to have an up-to-date resource. It turns out I need both editions, though. The earlier one has beautiful illustrations that the newer edition does not have. So, I recommend the latest edition as an excellent up-to-date literary resource, but if you have the older edition, don't throw it out!

This reference book is a must for every household - especially where young college students live. And a wonderful help for crossword lovers of any age.

We really make use of the new Reader's Encyclopedia in settling disagreements about various characters or plots. We are glad that we have an updated edition because the one we were using was 30 years old. Every household needs one just like it needs a good dictionary.

In response to
"James Patterson, Sue Grafton, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, (or pick your favorite living author) are now in here right? Sorry. Although Harry Potter has an entry, J.K. Rowling does not. You won't see Dan Brown or his "The Da Vinci Code" in here either."
I say:
A guide to literature has no need to include any of these authors, with maybe the exception of Grafton. But Clancy, Patterson, and especially Brown will hopefully fade with time. They write scripts, not books.

You have a good argument for the inclusion of the masterful "Remains of the Day," but Yan Martel probably plagiarized another novel for 'Life of Pi.'