A Little History of Literature

Description

This 'little history' takes on a very big subject: the glorious span of literature from Greek myth to graphic novels, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter. John Sutherland is perfectly suited to the task. He has researched, taught, and written on virtually every area of literature, and his infectious passion for books and reading has defined his own life. Now he guides young readers and the grown-ups in their lives on an entertaining journey 'through the wardrobe' to a greater awareness of how literature from across the world can transport us and help us to make sense of what it means to be human.   Sutherland introduces great classics in his own irresistible way, enlivening his offerings with humor as well as learning: Beowulf, Shakespeare, Don Quixote, the Romantics, Dickens, Moby Dick, The Waste Land, Woolf, 1984, and dozens of others. He adds to these a less-expected, personal selection of authors and works, including literature usually considered well below 'serious attention' - from the rude jests of Anglo-Saxon runes to The Da Vinci Code. With masterful digressions into various themes - censorship, narrative tricks, self-publishing, taste, creativity, and madness - Sutherland demonstrates the full depth and intrigue of reading. For younger readers, he offers a proper introduction to literature, promising to interest as much as instruct. For more experienced readers, he promises just the same. Contents chapter 1 What is Literature? chapter 2 Fabulous Beginnings Myth chapter 3 Writing for Nations Epic chapter 4 Being Human Tragedy chapter 5 English Tales Chaucer chapter 6 Theatre on the Street The Mystery Plays chapter 7 The Bard Shakespeare chapter 8 The Book of Books The King James Bible chapter 9 Minds Unchained The Metaphysicals chapter 10 Nations Rise Milton and Spenser chapter 11 Who ‘Owns’ Literature? Printing, Publishing and Copyright chapter 12 The House of Fiction chapter 13 Travellers’ Tall Tales Defoe, Swift and the Rise of the Novel chapter 14 How to Read Dr Johnson chapter 15 Romantic Revolutionaries chapter 16 The Sharpest Mind Jane Austen chapter 17 Books for You The Changing Reading Public chapter 18 The Giant Dickens chapter 19 Life in Literature The Brontës chapter 20 Under the Blankets Literature and Children chapter 21 Flowers of Decadence Wilde, Baudelaire, Proust and Whitman chapter 22 Poets Laureate Tennyson chapter 23 New Lands America and the American Voice chapter 24 The Great Pessimist Hardy chapter 25 Dangerous Books Literature and the Censor chapter 26 Empire Kipling, Conrad and Forster chapter 27 Doomed Anthems The War Poets chapter 28 The Year that Changed Everything 1922 and the Modernists chapter 29 A Literature of her Own Woolf chapter 30 Brave New Worlds Utopias and Dystopias chapter 31 Boxes of Tricks complex narratives chapter 32 Off the Page Literature on Film, TV and the Stage chapter 33 Absurd Existences Kafka, Camus, Beckett and Pinter chapter 34 The Poetry of Breakdown Lowell, Plath, Larkin and Hughes chapter 35 Colourful Cultures Literature and Race chapter 36 Magical Realisms Borges, Grass, Rushdie and Márquez chapter 37 Republic of Letters Literature Without Borders chapter 38 Guilty Pleasures Bestsellers and Potboilers chapter 39 Who’s Best? Prizes, Festivals and Reading Groups chapter 40 Literature in Your Lifetime… and Beyond Index