Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction by Margaret Kirkham My rating: 5 of 5 stars Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis. It was a bit of an adventure trying to secure a copy of this book. I ended up getting a temporary library card from one of the universities in my hometown, then made my way up to the 8th floor of a very quiet, unfamiliar library, quickly found the book, sneezed a whole bunch from the book dust, signed it out and then rushed home. For some strange reason I felt very uncomfortable at that library and I hoped the book wouldn’t prove too far…
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The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen
The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen by Janet Todd My rating: 1 of 5 stars Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis. A rather slim volume by the looks of it, I wondered what new information I could glean from such a short introduction to Jane Austen after having completed a month and a half of research, plus a trip to Bath and Chawton in England. I must be completely honest here and ask the very straight forward question: what the heck was this supposed to be? The book begins with a chapter on Jane Austen’s life. It feels thrown together; summarized from other sources that…
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Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage
Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage by B.C. Southam My rating: 3 of 5 stars Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis. As far as I can see, all of the initial responses to Jane Austen’s work were collected in this volume. It includes letters, diary entries and essays discussing and recommending Austen’s works, and Austen’s own assortment of opinions she gathered of family and friends about the novels that were published during her lifetime. The editor’s introduction contains a few interesting points. Most of the reviews and opinions included in this collection have been cited in various biographies that were composed following its publication, but it…
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Satire
Satire by Matthew John Caldwell Hodgart My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another book I used as a resource for my term paper, this one had a very distinct amusing and comedic tone to it, which was a refreshing break from the serious research and note taking I had done up until that point.It had some very good points on structure and composition of the genre and what distinguishes it from comedy.
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Anatomy of Satire
Anatomy of Satire by Gilbert Highet My rating: 4 of 5 stars A resource I used for my term paper, I was glad I stumbled upon this in my local reference library. It provides useful information on the genre of satire; what it is and how it’s constructed.There isn’t much more to say without providing a thorough summary of the book, but I would recommend it to gain an understanding of the genre.
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The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen
The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen by Edward Copeland My rating: 3 of 5 stars A good enough collection of articles that discuss all of Austen’s works and affords the reader with enough material to engage in further research and discussions about the novels and the author.
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Gothic
Gothic by Fred Botting My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sections of this book were assigned reading for the Gothic Literature course that I just finished. I also decided to use it as a resource for my term paper, since it deals with the evolution of the Gothic genre throughout the years.At first, I found this text to be extremely dry, disconnected and difficult to understand and I gave up on it for about 8-9 months. I hesitated picking it up again when I had to do my research for my term paper, but I realize that the reason for my initial struggles stemmed from the fact that the assigned…
