Chekhov's Mistress
New Companions to Literature
I was just quoting a couple of literary denizens on the importance of the text over reading secondary material, but the truth is I enjoy extra-credit reading, particularly if the author is not contemporary. One of my favorite series, for their layman’s summary of the scholarship, is the Cambridge Companion to Literature series. There are 246 of them in all and at the very least they serve to offer different approaches to a text and background on the author and his or her time.
Here are a few of the upcoming titles:
Cambridge Companion to…
Sylvia Plath [amazon]
Margaret Atwood [amazon]
W.B. Yeats [amazon]
Shelley [amazon]
Baudelaire [amazon]
John Updike [amazon]
Feminist Literary Theory
[Some of the CUP links may be to the hardback version, which are more expensive than paperback. The paperback appear to be available at the same time of publication.]
comments
Thanks for this. These look intriguing.
– Diana (01/06 at 12:40 PM)
But at $75 each, rather pricey. I do enjoy reading about the authors, especially if I really like their work. But I make it a point never to do so until after I’ve learned to appreciate the work first. I don’t even read the short bios on the cover flaps until the book is finished!
– susan (01/06 at 11:10 PM)
I realized that I might have linked to the hardback, but the paperbacks are cheaper.
Still, I understand what you’re saying, but I think particularly with material from another time, some context can add to your appreciation.
For instance, reading Don Quixote - that book can be enjoyed perfectly without any extra reading - but maybe a little knowledge about the politics of the time, the emergence of a capitalistic society, or the way that non-Christians were treated at the time and so on, may complete your reading.
And of course there’s the idea that sometimes that stuff is just enjoyable, as long as you don’t let other people’s words do your thinking about a text for you, but I enjoyed some of the discussion I read about how differently Don Quixote has been treated over time; as a romantic sometimes, as merely a lunatic, etc.
– Bud Parr (01/06 at 11:59 PM)
I know them. They are lying quietly and neatly in our uni library. At first sight,rather frightening, but when you plunge yourself into them, rather fascinating.
– Gretchen Ping (01/19 at 01:56 AM)
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About this Post
- Posted by: Bud Parr
- Date: January 06, 2006
- Filed Under:
Wise Men Fish Here: Literature
- Comments:4
- Links to this Post: Technorati
