How to Read Literature by Terry Eagleton

How to Read Literature by Terry Eagleton

What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full of concealed loathing, resentment, and aggression? In this accessible, delightfully entertaining book, Terry Eagleton addresses these intriguing questions and a host of others. How to Read Literature is the book of choice for students new to the study of literature and for all other readers interested in deepening their understanding and enriching their reading experience. In a series of brilliant analyses, Eagleton shows how to read with due attention to tone, rhythm, texture, syntax, allusion, ambiguity, and other formal aspects of literary works. He also examines broader questions of character, plot, narrative, the creative imagination, the meaning of fictionality, and the tension between what works of literature say and what they show. Unfailingly authoritative and cheerfully opinionated, the author provides useful commentaries on classicism, Romanticism, modernism, and postmodernism along with spellbinding insights into a huge range of authors, from Shakespeare and J. K. Rowling to Jane Austen and Samuel Beckett.

"This is Eagleton at his most charming and an excellent guide for literature students early in their education or those seeking a refresher course"-Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly "A genial guide to exactly what the title promises... This short book benefits from a conversational, even humorous tone... Includes a very funny exegesis of 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and an interpretive linkage of Dickens and Harry Potter."-Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews "Part of the fun of the book is the way in which Eagleton prompts, provokes and at times infuriates. How to read How to Read Literature?...as an ideal introductory guide to critical analysis, and a thoroughly enjoyable reminder of Eagleton's own skill and subtlety as a reader."-Felicity James, Times Higher Education Supplement -- Felicity James Times Higher Education Supplement "A pleasingly readable overview of what we talk about when we talk about books... Incisive and honest."-Michael Washburn, Boston Globe -- Michael Washburn Boston Globe "How to Read Literature is a lively and engaging primer on basic strategies for appreciating literature, a kind of English 101 in a book."-Washington Post Washington Post

Terry Eagleton is Distinguished Professor of Literature, University of Lancaster, UK, and Excellence in English Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Notre Dame. One of the most influential literary critics in the English-speaking world, he is the author of more than 40 books on literary theory, postmodernism, politics, ideology, and religion, among them his best-selling Literary Theory: An Introduction. He lives in Northern Ireland, UK.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780300190960
ISBN 10	0300190964
Title	How to Read Literature
Author	Terry Eagleton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Yale University Press
Year published	2013-05-21
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable