Customer Reviews

A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (The Language Library)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You get a lot of value for the money with this one. For a reasonable price you get almost 1000 pages of literary information. Every obscure literary term imaginable is here, but that's not why I am taking the time to praise this handy little volume. It's a browsers dream.

What I found most interesting were the lengthy sections on genres. There are pages devoted to specific types of novels, dramas, and poems. There are luxuriously long sections on science fiction novels, crime fiction, pastoral writings, short stories, gothic fiction, comic drama, and a host of other such topics. When you go to the short story section, for instance, you will find 12 pages dedicated to coverage of authors and their works dating from biblical times to the present (1998). I quickly found recommended writers that I hadn't known along with those I was well acquainted with. Although this book was inexpensive, I have spent many times its purchase price buying new books that I found referenced in this Dictionary. There are no individual entries for authors or their works in this book. For that you need to go to books like the Oxford, Cambridge, New York Public Library or Benet's literature reference works.

In poetry sections you will find examples of the type of verse being discussed. You will be amused at some of the entries provided under "light verse" and "limericks". There is even a heading for "shaggy dog story".

Any weaknesses to the book? Well there are a few. This book has a single author, unlike many reference works that have a group of contributors. This can lead to weak sections that are outside the solo author's expertise. Every reader will find a favorite author or two missing from the genre sections. I was appalled, for instance, to find no mention of Flannery O'Connor in the section on American short story authors. As the author is English, there may also be a slight bias toward English writers. I was also somewhat annoyed that Mr. Cuddon often -but not always- didn't take the time to give a foreign title its English translation. Would it have hurt him to list the Victor Hugo novel as "Toilers of the Sea" instead of "Les Travailleurs de le Mer"?

I am a hopeless book addict, and this little reference work really made my day(s).

This addictive dictionary can be (and frequently is, I believe) read from cover to cover. Hundreds of fascinating poetic forms, genres and movements are covered, the definitions are informative and often ironically detached (note the studiedly lapidary comments on Welsh poetry), virtually all major European literatures are taken into account, plus there are comments on Slavonic folklore, Korean poetry, Welsh prosody, and ancient Greek literary theory.

The wiring and plumbing of the book, its cross-referencing system, is admirably done and very helpful, luring the reader into a rollercoaster ride across centuries.

Another notable quality is the rich number of examples, especially of the titles of a legion of important / interesting / fascinating / demented literary works often buried in the sands of time. Unfortunately, however, many metric and strophic forms must go without illustration for reasons of space: a fact deplored by Cuddon himself in the preface.

But this does not detract from the book's worth: its logical structure and lucid explanations, combined with its author's awesome erudition, make this a priceless reference work.

This comprehensive dictionary of literary terms covers much, much more than any other book I've found. It concisely defines literary periods, critical schools, artistic movements, techniques, genres, structural elements, and the derivations of each. No term is too obscure for this volume. Want to know what a rime équivoquée is? Forget what is meant by post-modernism? What was the Florida Street group and with whom did the members identify? Need classic examples of a parody? How does the word "forensics" apply to poetry? You'll find it all in this book of nearly 1000 pages.

This is a highly valuable book for anyone deeply interested in literature and its expressions.

Under twenty dollars for a well thought-out, expertly assembled dictionary of over a thousand pages makes this Penguin an excellent purchase. As for the content, I will simply "second" the observations of earlier reviewers - and recommend that you look through their notes below to be sure this is what you want. This review is just to offer...

One CAVEAT: This inch-and-three-quarters paperback is extremely valuable and deserves to get well thumbed-over by any student of English literature or criticism in general. One could only wish that the publisher had released it in a "quality paperback" format that would better survive such thumbing. The present release (a 2000 paperback reissue of the 1998 hardback) is closer in quality to a mass market paperback, with newsprint grade paper, etc. Annotators and highlighters will find their inks bleeding severely through the pages.

Unfortunately, few of us will have the C-note to lay out for the (presumably much better produced) hardback edition... which would be a *real* treat to keep at one's writing table. Until you win the lottery(or Penguin releases a quality paperback), grab the affordable paperback: it's rewarding enough to keep you *wanting* to highlight, although disappointing when you do.

If you are an English major (as I am) then this is the positively best dictionary you can buy for literary terms and theory. Although it is not regarded as the "most authoritative" source around (that distinction probably goes to MH Abrhams' "Glossary of Literary Terms"), this book is thorough and enlightening. Plus, it's published by Penguin, which means it is basically approved and endorsed by Oxford. This book is by far the most comprehensive of its kind. Buy it, or be sorry you didn't!

I'm a post-bacc Engl major going on to get my Master's and I just ordered this wonderful book!! Mainly, I needed help with poetry terms, such as the different meters and such. But, this Dictionary has turned out to be an invaluable wealth of information, addressing literary terms and theories ranging from nursery rhymes to reader-response theory! It's great for anyone just wanting a reference book on this kind of stuff, to someone like me who needs an educational resource guide! Highly recommend!!!

This dictionary is a very good reference tool for almost every literary concept and movement imaginable. Topics such as 'deconstruction', 'satire' and 'irony' all receive several pages in this text. The sheer amount of information in this dictionary is mind-boggling.

I recommend this book for those who need a concise, to-the-point definition and exploration of literary movements, literary jargon, and about specific genres.

I recently started an English MA program and wanted a book with a good overview of lit. theory. This one is great! It brings all terms and theories together in a nice, compact book (I also love the curved-edge pages for quick flipping). EVERYTHING is in here.
Norton's Anthology of Lit. Theory is also very good, but it is a compliation of essays. This penguin dictionary provides quick access to basic tenets of theory schools. It also cross-references terms to connect movements and inovations. "Theatre of the Absurd," for example, also leads you to the entries for "Farce", "Happening", and "Pataphysics." Big names in each school of theory are mentioned, as well as major works that reflect particualr movements and schools of thought. This book is absolutely essential for anyone needing a good overview of lit. theory, lit. terms, and the study of lit in general. Highly recommended! (get the Norton Anthology of Lit. Theory too so you can dig deeper once you find it in the Penguin).

This dictionary is an outstanding piece of work. I was thinking of getting the "The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics", but I chose this one and I do not regret it. I have taken a look at the encyclopedia but I honestly have no use for such a "full" book. This dictionary is extraordinary and has everything I will need. It is practically as good as the encyclopedia but obviously, it is missing some particulars that most people will not even notice. By most I mean, graduate students and such. Doctor students may wish to get the other book.

The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory is any dilettante's dream come true! It's like they all say - comprehensive to all, cohesive, with easy reference, useful links and the like, but it's also tremendously interesting; J.A. Cuddon allows his opinion to filter across, not infrequently, to the reader, and his incisive views, usually penned with a hint of irony or so, make for engaging reading - it gets addictive, in fact. More than the indifferent exposition that the word dictionary implies, it is at once sardonic, humorous and factual, and is saturated with references to almost any work of literature possible to recall to mind: from the Chronohontonthologos (did I spell it right?) to The Scarlet Pimpernel; from Virgil to Byron and Lucan to Moliere. It's one of the few books in the world, I imagine, which it would be possible to read over and over again without managing NOT to find something (an observation, a summary, etc.) new and surprising each time.