Reading Novels [Paperback]

George Hughes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826514006 | ISBN-13: 978-0826514004 | Publication Date: June 14, 2002 | Edition: 1

Reading Novels is a unique piece of practical criticism, a comprehensive "poetics" of a genre that has not attracted a great deal of attention, at least not on this level. It is a reader's and student's guide that reaches beyond issues of individual texts and historical traditions to essential features of the form.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It will surely encourage readers to develop their ability to appreciate literary texts and to practice analytical and systematic reading. This is a valuable addition to literary studies.
--Journal of Irish Studies

About the Author

George Hughes is a professor of English and American literature at Tokyo University and author of In Comparison: Essays on England and Japan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press; 1 edition (June 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826514006
• ISBN-13: 978-0826514004
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,927,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Job, March 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Reading Novels (Library Binding)

Readers who want to fly high with theories might be disappointed (this book never once mentions feminism, postcolonial or cultural studies, as such)... but should they really? No theory can convince people without the basis of sound technical analysis of concrete examples. Literary theorists have to demonstrate, in a down-to-earth way, how the texts they deal with are constructed under particular intentions. Surely, a toolbox for building the intermediary ladder is necessary in the process; this book succeeds in providing us with one, and a very useful one indeed.
George Hughes does an excellent job of introducing us to the very basic (but often neglected) skills in looking at and analyzing literary texts, especially novels. His style manages to be intelligent and foolproof at the same time, relaxed but never pedestrian. His arguments are supported by an abundance of examples, some from celebrated texts, others from those we have heard of somewhere but were too lazy to read actually. (One of the virtues of this book is that it makes such texts look really attractive.) The way he explains terms and ideas is concise and to the point. (As a non-Western student, I found the section on free indirect discourse particularly helpful: it presents the elusive concept in an admirably transparent way.)
This book is a wonderful companion for traveling light in the world of literary texts - or, when it comes to that, `the world as text' (though the author emphasizes that this book focuses on the analysis of novels). Don't be put off by the seemingly unexciting title.