The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Hardcover)

~ Ian Ousby (Editor), Doris Lessing (Foreword)

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From Booklist

First published as The Cambridge Guide to English Literature in 1983, The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English was last published in 1988. This new edition has been considerably revised. As with the previous editions, its scope extends beyond the United Kingdom and Ireland and beyond the traditional English-literature syllabus to include the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

There are entries for writers; individual works; literary groups or schools, such as the Bloomsbury Group; wider literary movements, such as Romanticism; schools of criticism, such as New Criticism; genres and subgenres; poetic forms; critical concepts and literary terms; and important theaters and magazines. Years of birth and death are provided for authors, as well as a few words classifying the authors' fields of endeavor, such as "poet" or "critic." Entries range in length from three or four lines to several pages. The entry Libraries, for example, is six pages in length and is subdivided into sections on libraries in the British Isles, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa and Asia.

This edition shows evidence of substantial changes. In the As alone, there are at least 12 new entries, including those for Australian poet Robert Adamson, American novelist Lisa Alther, Anthills of the Savannah, and "archetypal criticism." A small number of entries have been deleted; in some cases, entries have been made shorter by slightly revising the prose. Several entries, such as those for Chinua Achebe and Maya Angelou, have been completely rewritten; others, such as those for Martin Amis and Margaret Atwood, have been brought up-to-date. Other changes include providing more categories for authors (e.g., in the earlier edition Auden was described only as a poet; now he is described as a poet, playwright, and critic) and changing the way in which titles are listed (e.g., The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is now listed as Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of). Finally, many illustrations have been revised. The picture of Jane Austen has been dropped, a photograph of Chinua Achebe has been added, the photo of Kingsley Amis has been replaced with one more recent.

The only comparable single-volume guides are those published by Oxford University Press, such as The Oxford Companion to English Literature and The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Though they cover each national literature in more detail, the Oxford companions have not been as recently revised. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, like its companion, The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre, provides relatively current coverage with a multicultural view. It is recommended for most libraries.

Review

'... immense browsability.' Anthony Burgess, The Observer

'... an indispensable and indeed path-breaking guide'. The L. A. Times

'... conceptually generous ... on overall points Cambridge wins. Its breadth of vision is the chief reason'. The Guardian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1067 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (February 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521440866
• ISBN-13: 978-0521440868
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.3 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie Meets Charles Dickens, November 29, 2002

By	Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Those two authors share space in this magnificent reference volume on English Literature. The sturdy, oversized Guide presents over one thousand pages of information on authors, novels, poetry, drama, and literary terms. There are interesting biographies of prominent writers and obscure ones, from Mrs. Humphrey Ward to William Faulkner.

Good plot summaries are provided for a wide range of novels. If you are a fan of Anthony Trollope, you will find no less than twenty five of his books discussed. You have to be careful, however, if you are reading the plot of a book in order to decided whether or not you want to read it - the ending is always given away. The Cambridge Guide explores many literary terms: Meter; the Bloomsbury Group; positivism; and post-structuralism. There are also entries on Literary Journals - yes, the New York Review of Books is here as well as Granta.

The Cambridge Guide is written for the average layman and avoids academic jargon. I decided to try the entry on "deconstruction" as the extreme test of explaining difficult concepts. It's hard to say: either they failed the test, or I failed it.

This book has become one of my prized possessions, and I would have been willing to buy it at twice the price charged.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for teaching or taking college courses., May 22, 1999

By A Customer

The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English provides a wide array of supplementary reading material to accompany lecture notes or for students to grasp overall concepts of a particular work, author, or literary movement.