Consciousness And The Novel

Description

A major collection of linked essays on how the great novelists - Dickens, James, Roth, Amis - go about representing human consciousness on the page 'The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction' Observer How does the novel represent human consciousness on the page? In eleven sparkling essays on some of the great novelists of the last 200 years - from Charles Dickens to Martin Amis, Henry James to Philip Roth - David Lodge pursues this question with characteristic verve and wit. One of the best novelists and critics of his generation, Lodge is the perfect guide to look afresh at the mysterious workings of the creative mind.

David Lodge (CBE)'s novels include Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work (shortlisted for the Booker) and, most recently, A Man of Parts. He has also written plays and screenplays, and several books of literary criticism. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Birmingham, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction * Observer * A fascinating survey of how novels convey our thoughts * Guardian * The abandonment of civilized talk about literature by the 'theory' fraternity would leave us very short if it were not for the likes of Lodge, the quality of whose prose and insights, not least because they both come matured from the casks of his own vocation, is a high treat. Leave consciousness to the neurophysiologists and philosophers, and explore human experience and selfhood with Lodge and the novelists, and enjoy -- A. C. Grayling * Financial Times * Lodge is a clear writer, wise about things and a careful reader and in general kind even to people who plainly irritate him -- Sam Leith * Spectator * He excels when he writes about books. His wide learning and through understanding of critical trends give confidence and enthusiasm to his work * Sunday Times * Lodge's animating spark is his sedulousness, his ability to marshal the facts, pronounce a judgement and then subtly qualify it -- D. J. Taylor * Independent on Sunday * Consciousness and the Novel makes a bright, instructive introduction to David Lodge - as critic and novelist - for anyone who does not know his work * San Francisco Chronicle * Most other critics would make heavy weather of such topics, but Lodge always scintillates * Boston Globe *