Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Blood Relations from Edgeworth to Hardy (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)

Book Description

This study addresses the question of why ideas of ancestry and kinship were so important in nineteenth-century society, and particularly in the Victorian novel. Sophie Gilmartin discusses what makes people believe that they are part of a certain region, race or nation, and what part is played by superstitious belief, invented traditions and fictions. Gilmartin's study shows that ideas of ancestry and kinship, and the narratives inspired by or invented around them, were of profound significance in the construction of Victorian identity.

Tressell: The Real Story of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'

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A long awaited update - and so much more

Tressell: The Real Story of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'
Dave Harker
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, one of the most important socialist novels of the 20th century, explains the key points of Marxist theory. Reprinted in many languages and countries, the novel was passed from hand to hand by workers. The story of Tressell and his novel is very relevant to the world today, more than ever. This unique book tells the fascinating story behind the man and his novel.

Customer Reviews:

A long awaited update - and so much more.......2003-10-30

A long awaited update - and much more.

Dave Harker's new work is the first is the first book-length study of Robert
Tressell to be published since F C Ball's 1973 biography One of the Damned,
which came out in 1973 and has been out of print for many years. More
importantly, perhaps, it is the first substantial subsequent study that,
whilst drawing on Ball's work, has examined it critically and looked beyond it
to primary sources. In this endeavour, Harker has benefited greatly from his
access to the ever-expanding archive compiled and administered by Reg Johnson,
whose late wife, Joan, was Tressell's grand-daughter and last surviving direct
descendant.

The value of Fred Ball's astonishing efforts in tracking down the manuscript
of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, restoring it as closely to its
author's original intended text as could reasonably be expected, given the
limited resources available to him, and collating the biographical detail he

gathered over a period of over thirty years is immense. This should not,
however, be allowed to hide the fact that his research was incomplete, and his
conclusions occasionally flawed. More recent essays that have failed to take
account of this do no justice to Ball by treating his findings as gospel
rather than building on them and augmenting them. The most recent and
exciting exception to this is Jonathan Hyslop's discovery of the documents
relating to Tressell's divorce case, in South Africa.

The first section of Harker's book provides an updated narrative of the life
of the author and the early history of the manuscript, its original discovery
by those who were in a position to bring about its publication and the two
editing processes that it was subjected to in order to produce the severely
mangled 1914 edition and the even more drastically abridged one shilling
edition first published in 1918. All of this is told against the background
of a lively account of the socialist and labour politics of the time, which
continues as Harker relates the book's subsequent history through its
publication record and the stories of those who read it and whose lives were
radicalised by it. Ball's story is incorporated skilfully into this, as are the arcane ideological manoeuvrings of the various incarnations of the UK communist parties and their Trotskyist opponents. Overall the narrative is one of betrayal, the betrayal of ideals and of the people whose protection and advancement lies at the core of the socialist ideal as embodied in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, culminating in the ultimate betrayal that is New Labour. Surveys of Labour MPs still indicate that Tressell's work is the favourite book of the Parliamentary Labour Party but one wonders how long it is since any of them actually read it!

Like Tressell, Harker is strong on diagnoses but less so on detailed remedies for the ills of the system that now dominates global culture, but also like Tressell he ends on an upbeat, with a timely call to arms and a plea for unity amongst those who crave the dismantling of capitalism and the construction of Tressell's dream of a Co-operative Commonwealth.

Anyone who wants to know all that is currently known about Tressell and The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, or to read an accessible summary of British Labour history, should buy/read this book.

Customer Reviews:

For Lewis and Chesteron fans.......2003-09-11

A nice collection of 17 essays by lovers of Lewis and G.K.C. Topics are arranged into five catagories. 1)Riddling Remembrances from those who knew them. 2)Spelling the riddle: Literary Assessments. 3)Living the Riddle: Their Social thought. 4)Proclaiming hte Riddle: Their social thought 5)Pursuing the Riddle of Joy.

I read this for the Lewis articles and was not disappointed at all. Very much worth the read! I liked Peter Kreeft's essay on Lewis' argument for god's existence from the innate desire within us. We are thirsty since water exists, we are hungry becasue food exists, we yearn for God because God exists. Intersting.

You may also enjoy "Permanent Things" edited by Tadie, which is a similar collection of essays on Christian literati.

Essays about the works of Lewis and Chesterton.......1998-03-14

This book a compendium of papers presented at a college campus in Seattle in which the works and achievement of G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis were celebrated. Interesting reading for Lewis and Chesterton fans.

The Doctor's Wife (Oxford World's Classics)

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Isn't life like a novel in 3 volumes?

The Doctor's Wife (Oxford World's Classics)
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192833014

Book Description

`Isabel Gilbert was not a woman of the world. She had read novels while other people perused the Sunday papers...she believed in a phantasmal world created out of the pages of poets and romancers.' The Doctor's Wife is Mary Elizabeth Braddon's rewriting of Flaubert's Madame Bovary in which she explores her heroine's sense of entrapment and alienation in middle-class provincial life married to a good natured but bovine husband who seems incapable of understanding his wife's imaginative life and feelings. A woman with a secret, adultery, death and the spectacle of female recrimination and suffering are the elements which combine to make The Doctor's Wife a classic women's sensation novel. Yet, The Doctor's Wife is also a self-consciously literary novel, in which Braddon attempts to transcend the sensation genre. This is the only edition of a fascinating and engrossing work, and reproduces uncut the first three-volume edition of 1864.

Customer Reviews:

Isn't life like a novel in 3 volumes?.......2000-05-13

The Doctor's Wife is the 4th of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's novels which I have had the good fortune to read. There are 76 more, so, Oxford World's Classics, bring them on! In this, my favorite so far, the heroine reads novels and dreams of her life being like those heroines in her novels. She especially seems to have an affinity with Edith Dombey. Isabel marries a decent, honest, but not much of a dreamer type man. He is very sensible and loves her much, but doesn't satisfy her emotionally, while someone else does. Braddon's wonderful word paintings of the nature scenes, and her many literary allusions were what brought this book to be my favorite of hers so far. And I thought the story was also a little more interesting. I highly recommend this author to anyone who reads 19th century literature for FUN, which is why I do it.

Lewis Carroll (Bloom's Modern Critical Views)

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Lewis Carroll (Bloom's Modern Critical Views)

Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0877546894

Book Description

Lewis Carroll is one of the most quoted authors in the English language. He is popularly known as the greatest of English nonsense writers, though some argue that he is not truly a nonsense writer at all. Examine his writing, including the very popular Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

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Many of us know of the poet Phillis Wheatley, the first black woman to publish a book in the Americas, but many of her contemporaries in America and in England remain obscure. This anthology, compiled by Vincent Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, goes a long way toward rectifying that omission. Here, Carretta collects the work of nearly 20 black writers from the late 1700s. Some, like Ignatius Sancho, a black Londoner who corresponded with important figures of his day such as the author Laurence Sterne, and Olaudah Equiano, an early black abolitionist who created the slave narrative, are well known. Others, like the poet Francis Williams, or Johnson Green, who served in the Revolutionary Army, and whose confession before his execution in 1786 for burglary is included here, are less so. This is an important collection but, while Carretta provides an introduction and footnotes, one wishes he had provided brief biographies for each of the contributors.

Book Description

New Expanded Edition!

This powerful anthology of black authors in English-speaking 18th century nations provides a narrow but necessary focus, assembling a comprehensive presentation of notables whose writings have reflected the experiences of blacks around the world. Themes of liberation, freedom and personal frustration in the effort abound.

Customer Reviews:

A Scholarly Masterpiece.......2000-05-07

Vincent Carretta's _Unchained Voices_ is a masterful anthology of black writers of the 18th century. This compilation--which includes well-known authors such as Phillis Wheatly and Olaudah Equiano, as well as more obscure writers like George Liele and Belinda--is invaluable to scholars of early American, African, and African-American literature. From criminals to Indian captives, the writers in Carretta's anthology illustrate the diversity of the African experience in the English-speaking world of the 18th century. Carretta's introduction and notes are brilliant, his attention to detail and tireless scholarship a model for other academics. While an excellent book for classroom use (I assign it in my survey courses of African-American literature), this anthology will also appeal to readers interested in beginnings of African-American literature.

The Road to Armageddon: The Martial Spirit in English Popular Literature, 1870-1914

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The Road to Armageddon: The Martial Spirit in English Popular Literature, 1870-1914
Cecil D. Eby
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The Lost Generation has held the imagination of those who succeeded them, partly because the idea that modern war could be romantic, generous, and noble died with the casualties of that war. From this remove, it seems almost perverse that Britons, Germans, and Frenchmen of every social class eagerly rushed to the fields of Flanders and to misery and death.
In The Road to Armageddon Cecil Eby shows how the widely admired writers of English popular fiction and poetry contributed, at least in England, to a romantic militarism coupled with xenophobia that helped create the climate that made World War I seem almost inevitable.
Between the close of the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and the opening guns of 1914, the works of such widely read and admired writers as H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, J. M. Barrie, and Rupert Brooke, as well as a host of now almost forgotten contemporaries, bombarded their avid readers with strident warnings of imminent invasions and prophecies of the collapse of civilization under barbarian onslaught and internal moral collapse.
Eby seems these narratives as growing from and in turn fueling a collective neurosis in which dread of coming war coexisted with an almost loving infatuation with it. The author presents a vivid panorama of a militant mileau in which warfare on a scale hitherto unimaginable was largely coaxed into being by works of literary imagination. The role of covert propaganda, concealed in seemingly harmless literary texts, is memorably illustrated.

The Portable Victorian Reader (Viking Portable Library)

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The Portable Victorian Reader (Viking Portable Library)

Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140150692

Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
Very Irish & Very Fanciful
A great group of stories
Ah, Irish Magic!

Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy

Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765305046

Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author Andrew M. Greeley, a collection of all new Irish tales to treasure and enjoy hough the Emerald Isle is no stranger to tales of the fantastic (everything from the Hound Cuchlain to Darby O'Gill and his leprechaun friends), most of the fantasy works dealing with Ireland have limited themselves to either ancient history/Celtic legends and lore, sentimental tales of wee folk, or ghostly tales of hauntings in old desterted castles. Needless to say, there is more to the history and culture of Ireland than the sort of entertainment fare popularized each year around March 17th. Emerald Magic presents the entire cavalcade of Eire from its earliest beginnings right up to the current climate that has begotten such popular phenomenons as the rock band U2 and the novels of Roddy Doyle as the backdrop for a collection of all new stories of the fantastic. Ideal for any fan of Irish books and perfectly timed for the Saint Patrick's Day season, Emerald Magic will be a collection to be treasured and enjoyed. Featuring works by such bestselling authors as: Ray BradburyJacqueline Carey Tanith LeeCecilia Dart-Thorton Peter TremayneMorgan Llywelyn Fred SaberhagenL.E. Modesitt Charles de LintJudith Tarr Jane LindskoldElizabeth Haydon Andrew M. GreeleyJane Yolen Adam StempleDiane Duane

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-10-07

This was better than I expected, actually. Greeley divides the book into two parts, actual stories involving the fairdinkum mythological types such as leprechauns, sidhe, and other such supernatural beings, and 'literary fantasies' in the latter, where you get space swan pilots and a time stranded Fianna, etc. The first half is where the good stuff is generally, but Tremayne's in the latter is good, although a pretty standard vampire storie, no faerie to be seen.

Emerald Magic : Herself - Diane Duane
Emerald Magic : Speir-Bhan - Tanith Lee
Emerald Magic : Troubles - Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
Emerald Magic : The Hermit and the Sidhe - Judith Tarr
Emerald Magic : The Merrow - Elizabeth Haydon
Emerald Magic : The Butter Spirit's Tithe [Newford] - Charles de Lint
Emerald Magic : Banshee - Ray Bradbury
Emerald Magic : Peace in Heaven? - Andrew M. Greeley
Emerald Magic : The Lady in Grey - Jane Lindskold
Emerald Magic : A Drop of Something Special in the Blood - Fred Saberhagen
Emerald Magic : For the Blood Is the Life - Peter Tremayne
Emerald Magic : Long the Clouds Are Over Me Tonight - Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Emerald Magic : The Swan Pilot - L. E. Modesitt
Emerald Magic : The Isle of Women - Jacqueline Carey
Emerald Magic : The Cat with No Name - Morgan Llywelyn

Celtic tiger expansion requires Joyceian swansong solution.

4 out of 5

Faerie werefox hero longevity deal.

4 out of 5

Paddy pub brawl plan.

3 out of 5

Pro-magic loner choice.

2.5 out of 5

Spudless, merwoman remains.

3 out of 5

Grey Man relief band.

3.5 out of 5

Noisy dead woman waits for the obnoxious.

4 out of 5

Seraph Shee.

3 out of 5

In the way of us.

2.5 out of 5

I'm a syphilitic sucker for Lucy.

3 out of 5

Showbiz suckers.

4 out of 5

Oisin the legends, really.

3 out of 5

Irish eyes are flying.

3.5 out of 5

Beardless men easier to reel in.

3.5 out of 5

Moggy warning.

3 out of 5

Very Irish & Very Fanciful.......2004-07-16

I suggest pausing between stories to clear the mind. All the writers bring their own style, but also that Irish lyrical writing. To really savor each one, you need to avoid rushing straight through.
Not being well-grounded in all the creatures of Irish folklore, some of the scarier stories surprised me. These are not your Lucky Charm leprechauns.
I'd also recommend Norah Roberts'A Little Magic which embraces Irish fantasies with a romantic flair.

A great group of stories.......2004-02-19

This wonderful book is a collection of some fifteen stories of Irish magic. The authors of the stories are all masters of the writing profession - Tanith Lee, Ray Bradbury, Fred Saberhagen, Morgan Llywelyn, and others. The book is arranged into two groups: The Little People, and Literary Fantastics, but don't imagine that it is quite that clear. The stories all range in setting from the ancient past to the very modern, and each is a masterpiece, ranging from the sad to the heartwarming to the hilarious.

As you might expect with an anthology, I found some of the stories to be better than others. I loved Cecilia Dart-Thornton and Jacqueline Carey's stories of ancient times (I always loved the old Irish heroic stories), and also Fred Saberhagen horror story. Those are my three favorites, but my hat is off to Peter Tremayne's story, which juxtaposes the horrors of yesterday with those of today. (I wish I could tell you about it, but that would be spoiling things!)

Yep, this is a great group of stories. If you like Irish stories, then you absolutely most get this book. And even if it's just that you like good modern stories of the fantastic, you will love this book. I highly recommend it!

Ah, Irish Magic!.......2004-02-05

What a lovely book! I gave it as a gift to myself, because Father Greeley is one of my guilty pleasures. I have always been a huge fan of the work of Charles De Lint, and the Butter Spirit's tithe was a great read, very fun. Likewise Elizabeth Haydon, whose prose has always reminded me a little bit of William Butler Yeats, infuses her charming take with the poetry only found in Irish blood. Judith Tarr, an author I had not read before, also impressed me favorably.

Book Description

In Zurich in 1918 and 1919, the English painter Frank Budgen and the Irish writer James Joyce met almost daily to walk, talk, and drink wine; their talk, among other things, was of the complex novel Joyce was then writing. This captivating study is the record of these conversations, and of a
continuing friendship, as well as an acute critical commentary on the work itself. The only first-hand account available of the growth of Ulysses, the book is here reissued in its original form, together with Budgen's essays of 1939-41 on Finnegan's Wake, his deeply felt obituary of Joyce, and his
"Further Recollections" of 1955. An introduction by Joyce scholar Clive Hart draws on much unpublished material to trace the history of the book, and pay a personal tribute to Frank Budgen, his friend, who died in 1971 at the age of eighty-nine.

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