Overview
- Covers a wide range of major novels
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
The Practice of Reading is a lucid and lively examination of the art of interpreting the novel in the context of recent developments in literary theory and criticism. Believing that reading is - or should be - a pleasurable, creative activity, the authors analyse a range of seven novels from the eighteenth century to the present, focusing upon the experiential dimensions of the reading process. What is the role of the reader? What happens when a novel is read? How far does meaning depend on the reader, and how far on the text? These and other related questions are explored in readings of novels as diverse as Tristram Shandy, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Daniel Deronda, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Beckett's Trilogy and Possession.
In its insistence upon a return to the practice of close reading, the book represents a timely intervention in current literary debates. An accessible, informative and above all stimulating text for all university and college students of literature.
In its insistence upon a return to the practice of close reading, the book represents a timely intervention in current literary debates. An accessible, informative and above all stimulating text for all university and college students of literature.
About the authors
DEREK ALSOP is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill.
CHRIS WALSH is Head of English at University College Chester.
CHRIS WALSH is Head of English at University College Chester.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Practice of Reading
Book Subtitle: Interpreting the Novel
Authors: Derek Alsop, Chris Walsh
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27437-6
Publisher: Red Globe Press London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: D. K. Alsop and C. J. Walsh 1999
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 240
Additional Information: Previously published under the imprint Palgrave
Topics: Fiction