Passions of the Mind: Selected Writings [Paperback]

A.S. Byatt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1993

Whether she is writing about George Eliot or Sylvia Plath; Victorian spiritual malaise or Toni Morrison; mythic strands in the novels of Iris Murdoch and Saul Bellow; politics behind the popularity of Barbara Pym or the ambitions that underlie her own fiction, Byatt manages to be challenging, entertaining, and unflinchingly committed to the alliance of literature and life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wide-ranging essays in literary criticism from the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Readers of Byatt's Still Life ( LJ 11/15/85) and, to a lesser extent, Possession ( LJ 11/1/90) will find this collection of her criticism true to her quality and themes. The essays range from describing the influences on her own work to analysis of her favorite Victorians, Robert Browning and George Eliot, and such modernist writers as Ford Madox Ford, William Golding, and Iris Murdoch. Some female writers (Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bowen, and Toni Morrison, among others) are treated, as are the relationship of the real and the symbolic, as revealed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Rycroft, and Vincent Van Gogh. Byatt's interest in the influence of religion on writing shines through. The writing is brilliant, requiring a substantial awareness of English literature and command of the language. For academic and large public libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/91.
- Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Md.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Vintage International Edition edition (March 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679736786
• ISBN-13: 978-0679736783
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,090,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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