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Title: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1 B: The SixteenthCentury/The Early Seventeenth Century by M. H. Abrams, Stephen Greenblatt, George M. Logan, Barbara Kiefer Lewalski ISBN: 0-393-97566-5 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.80 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.69 (26 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Stalwart
Comment: Most of the reviews submitted thus far tend to criticize the canon in general, as opposed to the editorial apparatus or the actual works contained within this tome. I for one am delighted with this book, and have found no logical substitute for it as of yet. Even when looking into the "Longman Anthology of British Literature" I found it considerably lacking. To deny the whole of "Paradise Lost" is inane (and yes, to include the work completely is neccessary if one is to truly appeciate it; without it the entire work, you might as well not include any of it at all) and to only offer one Shakesperean play is akin more to a meal, than a banquet (if I may sardonically quote their marketing ploy on the back of the Longman) - truly, the Norton is THE book for any English Literature survey course.
Rating: 3
Summary: Panders to the Zietgeist
Comment: Ninety-nine percent of the people who buy this book will have no choice; it will be the required text for an undergraduate survey of British literature. They should know that while this is in many respects a fine book, it is misleading. I will offer a couple of examples based on my own specialization, 19th century literature.
The two volumes offer 15 pages on Sir Walter Scott, that is, 1/400th of the whole anthology, or 1/200th of the second volume. Yet Scott is, arguably, the most influential writer in English for the 19th century. No Scott - - no historical novel - - no War and Peace. The volume's ill-treatment of Scott extends to the selection of Scott's prose, namely the first chapter of The Heart of Midlothian. The story proper does not begin till chapter 2. I would advise a reader new to Scott to skip Chapter 1. What about printing one of Scott's short stories instead, "The Highland Widow" or "The Two Drovers"? If an excerpt must be used, what about the climax of Redgauntlet, with the dismissal of Bonnie Prince Charlie?
The editors and/or publishers have prepared a book they think will _sell lots of copies_. Be warned that this has dictated some distortions. Giving three times the space to Mary Wollstonecraft as to Scott is an example. No doubt Wollstonecraft is important for understanding the currents of sensibility of the age and the voice that feminists did have; but then, where are the hymns of Charles Wesley, taken up by innumerable British people? You need to know something about them if you are to understand the period. Leaving them out really does the reader a disservice.
Users of this book get an anthology that subtly distorts one's picture of the eras through which the selections move. Good luck to its users.
Rating: 5
Summary: Norton Anthology of English Literature by Abrams et al.
Comment: This is an excellent reference guide for the English Literature
of the 1600s and 1700s. There is an exhaustive coverage of
the following works:
o Caedmon's Hymn
o Beowulf
o Geoffrey Chaucer
o Middle Age Lyrics
o Sir Thomas Mallory
o Medieval Attitudes Toward Life on Earth
o Christopher Marlowe
o Sir Thomas Moore
o Shakespeare
o Sir Walter Ralegh
o John Donne
o Robert Herrick
o George Herbert
o John Milton
o Richard Lovelace
o Samuel Butler
o Jonathan Swift
o Alexander Pope
o Samuel Johnson
o James Boswell
o Restoration Literature of the 18th Century
Here is a paragraph from "The Wife of Bath's Tale":
"The wise astrologen daun Ptolomce,
That saith this proverbe in his Almageste:
' Of alle men his wisdom is the hyeste
That rekketh nat who hath the world in honde.
By this proverbe thou shalt understonde."
This work is perfect for majors of English literature and
college courses in literature. A beauty of the work is that
it is written in the original English dialect of the
centuries represented. Critiques of this work alone could
fill a dozen or so academic dissertations.
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