Literature (A Quick Read)

Author: Cory Belcher
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: If you really use books to decorate a room, how can a reader with limited knowledge explain transforming a flat-pack cabinet into a custom bookshelf? Using basic materials (like wood, glue, nails, characters, plots, dialogues)? Or discussing craft techniques (an elegant metaphor or a witty placement of a simile)? Literature: A Quick Read provides a guide for first-time buyers—read it, and you’ll never mix up Rilke and Rimbaud again.
- Various genres and styles are clearly categorized with examples.
- All major writers from every continent are discussed.
- Every school, movement, and experiment is explored.
- A list of major literary awards is provided (so you can decide which to snatch).
Literature is just a list of certain books, the kind that will always be the product of imagination. Since everyone’s reading experience is different, as long as there are two people, there won’t be a consensus on where such a list begins or ends. The complexity lies in the fact that these lists are often compiled by other writers. Writers, as they say, rely on other writers—gazing up at them, imitating them, or meticulously categorizing them. They call these results “literary tradition.” Thus, Edmund Spenser’s elaborate Elizabethan poetry, The Faerie Queene, is “literature,” while Geoffrey Achern’s novel is not—not yet, at least. In our time, Achern’s readers are undoubtedly a million to one compared to Spenser’s. However, Spenser’s melodious verse later influenced Shakespeare and Milton, while Achern’s straightforward, easy-to-read writing style is now almost scoffed at even by fellow writers.
Everyone has the right to disagree with the authors’ consensus on what constitutes literature—different perspectives are key to expressing our own values. Still, there is no true standard of agreement: For example, Tolstoy—generally considered one of the greats in this field—believed that Shakespeare—generally considered another great—was entirely worthless.