In this sequel to his popular works Is Heathcliff a Murderer? and Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?, John Sutherland unravels thirty-four new literary puzzles, once again combining erudition with bold investigative speculation. In addition to these new conundrums, Professor Sutherland revisits some previous puzzles with the help of readers who offer their own ingenious solutions and who set fresh puzzles for exploration. Victorian drug habits, railway systems, sanitation and dentistry are only a few of the details that shed light on the motives and circumstances of some of literature's most famous characters. Elizabeth Bennet, Betsey Trotwood, Count Dracula, Anna Karenina, Alice and many more come under the spotlight in John Sutherland's highly entertaining collection. Bringing good humor and good sense back to literary criticism, Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet? offers scintillating forensic exercises that are as compelling as the plots they dissect.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"reches an important lesson; that great writers can get away with lousy plotting" Independent on Sunday 13 June 1999
"an expert in teasing out literary puzzles from great classic fiction. With a light hand and a sense of humour" Daily Mail, 11 June 1999
"hugely entertaining" Sunday Telegraph", 20 June 1999
" such an engaging critic" Independent, 19 June 1999
"teaches an important lesson; that great writers can get away with lousy plotting" Independent on Sunday 13 June 1999
'The essays are, almost without exception, delightful, and will be of enormous pleasure to any keen readers of literature.' - The Sunday Times, 1.8.99
"an expert in teasing out literary puzzles from great classic fiction. With a light hand and a sense of humour" Daily Mail, 11 June 1999
"hugely entertaining" Sunday Telegraph", 20 June 1999
" such an engaging critic" Independent, 19 June 1999
"teaches an important lesson; that great writers can get away with lousy plotting" Independent on Sunday 13 June 1999
'The essays are, almost without exception, delightful, and will be of enormous pleasure to any keen readers of literature.' - The Sunday Times, 1.8.99
About the Author
John Sutherland is Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great companion to the classics,
This review is from: Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?: Further Puzzles in Classic Fiction (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
This is the third volume of Sutherland's puzzles in classic fiction series. Along with the new mysteries, Sutherland also revisits some of the puzzles from "Is Heathcliff a Murderer?" and "Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?" to acknowledges corrections and alternate interpretations.
As usual, Sutherland's work is interesting and entertaining. He examines the works of 19th century greats such as Jane Austen, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, and William Thackery, and sheds light onto both mysteries in the texts and the writing process itself. I don't always agree with his interpretations of the texts, but Sutherland's essays are always well-written, humorous, and engaging. He'll make you want to read the classics all over again!
3.0 out of 5 stars
As The Well Runs Dry,
By Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?: Further Puzzles in Classic Fiction (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
Mom always said, don't fret if you scraping the bottom of the barrel, that's where all the best stuff is! However with John Sutherland's series of puzzles in classic fiction, there's no denying that, with the publication of this volume, he had reached a cul-de-sac pretty much: no turning back. the pickings here are slim, and many of the best ones were contributed by avid fans of the series, who would write in with their own ideas. Even the schoolchildren with their riddles concerning Dickens' Christmas Carol do better with the puzzlers. In the first two books, his supply seemed inexhaustible, and every time you turned the page of one of precious Victorian novels you found something newly strange. Were they elm trees or lime trees in MIDDLEMARCH? That sort of thing. Now the elm-lime controversy is about the most breathtaking he can summon up.
Where to turn to next? Well, he was able to leap back in time to polish off the mysteries of Shakespeare (how does a clock toll the hours in JULIUS CAESAR centuries before clouds). And then he came to the present day and modern fiction in the REBECCA book. All the while managing to keep Olivier's divine profile on the cover (except for the JANE EYRE book which had to suffice with Orson Welles). More power to him, he's a great git, but this just isn't his best. The anomalies of Frances Price in MANSFIELD PARK, of Esther's mother-in-law in BLEAK HOUSE, of Jim's family in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, all have been treated often and elsewhere by others. (In fact, Sutherland is almost invariably creepy when he comes to write about American fiction, I wonder why.) That said, I do like some of the puzzles, for example, in A TALE OF TWO CITIES, Sydney Carton knocks out his lookalike using chloroform (sparking a chloroform craze in Victorian fiction). The only problem is, the book takes place during the last days of the French Revolution, of course, before chloroform's invention. And usually i skip over Sutherland's Trollope and Thackeray riddles, maintaining a low opinion of both men as writers and thinkers, but here he almost persuades you they're not only habitually careless, but matchless too. There's still a lot of life at barrel's bottom, just like my mother used to claim.
6 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well, who is it?,
By
This review is from: Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?: Further Puzzles in Classic Fiction (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
Wow! I was amazed, especially how Sutherland revised his essays on Wuthering Heights and Mill on the Floss. What marvelous insights? What does Lady Dedlock die of? Why doesn't Laura tell her own story in the Woman in White? Read this marvelous book to find out.
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