About this title: The articles which David Lodge wrote for "The Independent on Sunday" for 50 weeks in 1991 and 1992 have been revised and expanded for this book. The art of fiction is considered under a range of headings, such as "The Intrusive Author", "Suspense", "The Epistolary Novel", "Time-shift", "The Sense of Place" and "Symbolism". Each topic is illustrated by a short passage or two taken from classic and modern fiction, extending from Laurence Sterne to J.D. Salinger, from Jane Austen to Fay Weldon, from Charles Dickins to Martin Amis. Lodge takes these passages apart and puts them together again ...
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Date Published: 1994-07-01
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780140174922. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 256 pages. (256 pages) features various articles considering the art of fiction under a range of headings such as 'the intrusive author', 'suspense', and 'magic realism'. this book illustrates several styles and techniques by passages from classic or modern fiction. it is suitable for writers, students and those who want to understand how literature works. bibliog, index (Paperback) read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight use wear, SPINE n PAGES CLEAN CRISP n TIGHT-LIKE NEW. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 256 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1994-07-01
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: Very Good. Paperback. Clean book with light bends in spine from reading and may have a bookstore stamp inside the cover. Quick response! read more
Description: New. 0140174923 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION. Great Book at a Great Value! read more
Description: Very Good. Previously read with moderate shelf wear. No underlining or margin notes present. We are the Twin Cities' largest independent book store. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780140174922ISBN:0140174923
Description: New. From Jane Austen to Paul Auster, irony to magical realism, the novelist's art is revealed in an entertaining and enlightening book for readers and writers--from the author of Nice Work. Here are 50 of David Lodge's articles from the acclaimed series... read more
"A terrific group of essays about various aspects of fiction-writing. Each chapter begins with a short excerpt from a novel (mostly well-known novels) illustrating some technical or stylistic choice that Lodge then explains and analyzes. I have read this enjoyable book twice in the hope it would make me a better reader of fiction. Unfortunately, however, I seem to forget Lodge's points as soon as I finish!"
"The very fact that the book has compelled me to put my thoughts here when I've barely finished reading a quarter of it is a reflection of how much a wonderful read it is.
What David Lodge has done is quite simple - he has chosen a variety of styles in fiction eg intrusive author, unreliable narrator, suspense, symbolism, magical realism, interior monologue etc and illustrated each of them with a passage taken from well known book with a succinct missive to go with them. The beauty of the book is in its discretion and economy making it easier to relate to a lay reader ( by which I mean a reader who had the fortune of escaping the painful literary expositions of neurotic university professors).
Consider these chapters - Interior Monologue, Stream of Consciousness, Symbolism - as I think of these techniques perhaps left to myself, I would choose Edouard Dujardin, James Joyce and Scott Fitzgerald, but then I realise how wrong my choices could be, because these chaps almost master and monopolise the respective techniques, there by rendering themselves a poorer example for an average lay reader. Then as you read the simple missives, you see why David Lodge's choices are James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and DH Lawrence!
I gather these chapters appeared as weekly articles in the Independent in the 90s. I could easily picture myself religiously waiting for the articles every week, so that I could cut them off for my collection. Well, with the book, I guess that would have been unnecessary."
"Lodge approaches a book about writing books in a manner similar to the way he approaches his own fiction: with eloquence, strong evidence from preexisting texts, and just the right amount of irreverent humor. A fabulous book assigned to me in school, but a great read outside of that context as well."
"This book originated in the early 1990's when David Lodge was invited by the Independent on Sunday to contribute a series of weekly articles in which he chose a literary topic (such as Beginnings, Mystery, A Sense of Place, Allegory or Endings) and illustrated this with one or two short extracts from relatively well-known novels.
The constraint of a short weekly newspaper column has demanded that Lodge restricts his comments and analysis to the most significant elements of the passages that he has chosen.
As Lodge is not only a highly successful novelist in his own right, but also was a lecturer and professor in English Literature at Birmingham University for almost 30 years, you will be hard pressed to find a more knowledgeable, entertaining or lucid guide to accompany you through some of the landmark works of English fiction, regardless of whether you are an aspiring writer or simply wish to understand how literature works."
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