Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies Farewell to the court (Chap. 3) - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
What we are about to study is an extract from the novel The Brooklyn Follies, written by Paul Auster and published in 2005. Here, we are at the beginning of the novel, where Nathan and Tom are having lunch and talking about Tom's activities. We may wonder in what ways the passage is...
Review of the Rabbits who caused all the trouble by James Thurber in Fables of your times
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
The text we are going to study is entitled “The Rabbits who caused all the trouble”. It is an extract from “Fables of your times” written by James Thurber in 1940. The main characters of this text are the rabbits and the wolves. However, there are other animals involved in the...
First scene of Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child" - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
This extract is the first scene of Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child, a book published in 1988 which deals with Ben a monster-like child whose birth deeply alters his parent's life. This first scene introduces us to the main characters i.e. David and Harriet and sets the general tone of the...
Wife-Wooing, by John Updike
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
In his short story, 'Wife-Wooing', John Updike portrays the life of what seems to be an ordinary family through which he discusses matters related to matrimony. This story centers around two people who seem to have forgotten the meaning of their marriage. Through this essay, I will...
Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress": a Baroque reworking of conventions - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) was an English Metaphysical poet. Marvell wrote several satirical poems against the corruption of the court, but they were published after his death (for being too subversive). ?To His Coy Mistress', though not about politics, is also a subversive poem. It is an...
Analysis of the sonnet 'to sleep' by J. Keats
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
One may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the...
Commentary Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is known as one of the author's most powerful novels. Even though the story is completely imaginary, the plot takes place in a very precise historical and geographical context: 1930s California. Moreover, one of the main themes of the novel is humanity and...
De Lacey Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 6 pages - Literature
In a disconcertingly candid manner, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers its readers a sensible critique on the callous superficiality of human social interaction. Shelley imaginatively introduces a repugnant, yet kindhearted monster into the world of man, who is only to be received, and...
The theme of the declining Big House in Bowen's The Last September
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
'The Last September', Elizabeth Bowen's second novel, describes the Anglo-Irish life of the provincial aristocracy during the turbulent times of 1920, and deals directly with the crisis of being Anglo-Irish. In this particular context, Bowen makes a combination between social comedy and...
"Answers to a questionnaire" by James Graham Ballard
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Answers to a Questionnaire' is a short story which was written by James Graham Ballard, and published for the first time in the English literary magazine 'Ambit', in 1985. Ballard's style of writing is highly important to understand his works, he is a member of the 'New...
The grapes of wrath: analysis of chapter 6 - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
This excerpt, taken from Chapter 6 of ?The Grapes of Wrath', deals with Muley Graves's account of the depletion of man, when he is separated from his land. It is the third of many narrative chapters, which move away from the social, economic and historical situations that shape the...
Literary devices and style in pride and prejudice - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 15 pages - Literature
Sound effects connect the 2 words in the title ?Pride and Prejudice? right from the start of the novelv(also used in Sense and Sensibility). This connection between Pride and Prejudice helps define the 2 main characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, and participates in the development of the...
A Scanner Darkly, by Philippe K. Dick - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
The novel, deals with drugs and its consequences, its process of marginalization of distorted social relationships, the subjective deterioration of reality, hallucinations and the paranoia that they generate, Richard Linklater will bring out an adaptation of the letter and the spirit. Adapted...
The fantastic atmosphere in The Moon Bog by HP Lovecraft - publié le 29/09/2010
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
In his short story entitled ?The Moon Bog', Lovecraft adheres to his methods to create a genuine fantastic atmosphere. Both his style and his narration contribute to the setting of a cosmic ambiance in a very effective way. From the point of view of the narrative, the themes in this short...
Orwell said in an essay titled Why I write : "It is my purpose to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole." How far does Orwell achieve this in 1984 ? - published: 29/09/2010
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
It is to be remembered that George Orwell fought for the Republicans (against Franco) in Spain towards the end of 1936. It was during this battle that Orwell was wounded. We know that George Orwell's ?Nineteen Eighty-Four' (published in 1949) publication was given this title because the...
Book review - The Stranger
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
I feel that in this novel there are two major elements that stand out from all of the rest. First and foremost, there is Meursault, a shipping clerk and main character, with so many oddities and fascinations that it is hard to not try to figure him out. He has no substance in his life and does...
Indigenous resurgence in the contemporary Caribbean (Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 12 & 13)
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
In a contemporary sense, perspectives of the Caribbean have been created in a way that does not speak of the indigenous and aboriginal peoples of the areas as much as they should. This is likely to change though as these indigenous and aboriginal peoples of the Caribbean are once again gaining...
Roman, provincial and Islamic law by Patricia Crone
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
The basic thesis of Patricia Crone's Roman, Provincial and Islamic Law is that the sharia is, at least in part, derived from what the author calls “Roman provincial law”, and not from pre-Islamic Arabian cultures, other Near-East cultures (Egyptians, Akkadians and Jews among others) or...
Do androids dream of electric sheep: A review
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Edward James states in his piece, Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century, that, “Because science fiction deals with imaginative alternatives to the real world, [it] also offers criticism of that world.” In Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, that criticism is...
The innocent man by John Grisham: A review
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
John Grisham has been a favorite author of mine since fourth grade when I picked up A Time to Kill for the first of many times. That fictional novel was the start of my love for his exciting, fast paced storytelling and The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Chamber and The Testament...
Book review of Undress me in the temple of heaven
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
The author Susan and her Ivy League friend Claire declare to each other that they want to travel and experience the world as it is after graduation. Their idealism, youth, and naiveté meet head on with a Chinese culture not used to tourists or any Westerners at all. Claire and Susan are...
Book review: "The Death of Adam" by Marilynne Robinson
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
Marilynne Robinson's The Death of Adam is an essay collection by the author of the acclaimed novel Giliad. The essays in the book fall into two main categories, as Robinson describes in the preface. Some of them are dedicated to pointing out foolishness and ugliness where modern thought...
Dealin' some justice: Wargrave style
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Every good mystery has suspense, deception, and plot twists. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is no different. Published in 1939, the book has sold well even today. The book features high suspense with cold-blooded murders and a mystery killer. All the characters and even the reader...
Homeless Mothers: Book review and topic discussion
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
Homeless Mothers: Face to Face with Women and Poverty by Deborah R. Connolly (University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, 2000) is an ethnography based on participant observation and extensive interviews and written for the general public. Its main subjects are homeless mothers and their...
"Youth", J. M. Coetze - the main character in the book
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Youth' relates to a young man who has left South Africa after having finished his studies to live in London. According to him, he can reveal himself as a poet, as an artist, he can only get rid of his bleak appearance by leaving his native country. He expects a lot from London where his...
"Surfacing", Margaret Atwood (1972)
Book review - 8 pages - Literature
Atwood's contribution to the Canadian Literature is regarded as one of the most important of the past century. As an author, a poet and also a critic, she has distinguished herself by her literary eclecticism and her political and feminist involvement. She is also among the most-honoured...
"High Stained Glass, Philip Larkin (1974) - themes and poetic style of Larkin
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Larkin's anthology, 'High Windows', shows some recurrent themes, like life and death, aging, youth and sexuality, religion and socialising, that run through the different poems, linking and contrasting them. The presence of symbols is quite significant and can be seen as a common...
Detailed Study of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
Jane Eyre is an orphan who has been sent to Gateshead, her uncle's house, early. Her uncle has died and her aunt Mrs. Reed hates her. She always punishes Jane Eyre even if it were her own children who had made a mistake. For example, one day, Jane was shut up in the 'red-room' (that...
A Study on Willa CATHER, O Pioneers!
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Willa Cather was an American novelist who grew up in Nebraska, where her most famous novel "O Pioneers!? is set. It is her second novel, and she was forty when it was published in 1913. Actually, this fictional novel is in keeping with its author's life insofar as the heroine has similarities...
The Home and the World - Rabindranath Tagore
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Rabindranath Tagore was born on the 6 of may 1861 in Calcutta and died on the 7 of august 1941, in the same town. He was a versatile artist, writing poetry, drama and novels, composing and also painting. He was also a huge philosopher in India during his time. He was also known as...
