This book has broad appeal, including fellow researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, plus general enthusiasts of Byatt's work. It is the great merit of this volume that this ideal of scholarship is embodied in a slim, well-written book on one of Britain's most prolific and interesting writers.

Alfer and Edwards de Campos thus succeed in presenting a study that is accessible to the heterogeneous audience they address and which includes researchers, undergraduates, postgraduates and "general enthusiasts" dust jacket alike. This is no mean feat, especially when it comes to a complex and often difficult writer like A. Byatt is an important contribution to the growing body of critical work on this central figure in contemporary British fiction.

Critical Storytelling goes far beyond the scope of an introductory reader as it exhaustively surveys the substantial critical literature on Byatt, and does an impressive job of contextualizing the novels in the wider critical and cultural sphere of twentieth and twenty-first-century Britain. Fathers, Sisters and the Anxiety of Influence: The Shadow of the Sun and The Game 2.

Edwardian Britain is entering a new era in which the established social order is changing, the suffragette movement is gaining full force and World War I is approaching. And, as always in Byatt's fiction, embedded within the realist elements are layers of literary allusion, hinting at the dark side of both fairytales and utopian visions: On another level, it is stuffed with the motifs of fairy stories: Novels are works of art which are made out of language, and are made in solitude by one person and read in solitude by one person - by many different, single people, it is to be hoped.

So I am also interested in what goes on in the minds of readers, and writers, and characters and narrators in books. I like to write about people who think, to whom thinking is as important and exciting and painful as sex or eating. This doesn't mean I want my books to be cerebral or simply battles of ideas.

I love formal patterning in novels - I like to discover and make connections between all sorts of different people, things, ways of looking, points in time and space.


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But I also like the idea that novels can be, as James said, 'loose baggy monsters', a generous form that can take account of almost anything. Temperamentally, and morally, I like novels with large numbers of people and centres of consciousness, not novels that adopt a narrow single point-of-view, author's or character's. I don't like novels that preach or proselytise. I fear people with very violent beliefs, though I admire people with thought-out principles.


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The novel is an agnostic form - it explores and describes; the novelist and the reader learn more about the world along the length of the book. LitBritish We know you've been waiting on tenterhooks for this: LitBritish Last week we met up with the four brilliant writers shortlisted for the thesundaytimes YoungWriterYear award… https: LitBritish Last chance to apply for our first round of grants to support literary professionals wanting to work with Indonesia… https: It's a Thursday everyone - you know what that means!

A new RadioBookRwanda podcast! This week you can lose yourself in sho… 4 days ago. We publish a Literature Newsletter when we have news and features on UK and international literature, plus opportunities for the industry to share. To subscribe to the newsletter, until further notice, please press the subscribe button. You may unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link in the newsletter.

We will process your personal information based on your consent. British Council may use the information you provide for the purposes of research and service improvement, to ask for feedback in the form of questionnaires and surveys. We do this in our legitimate interest. British Council complies with data protection law in the UK and laws in other countries that meet internationally accepted standards. You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold on you, and the right to ask us to correct any inaccuracies in that information. For historical context for Remains of the Day , visit the historical background resources above for the post-war years, including information on life after WWII and the Suez Crisis of If you enjoyed Ishiguro, try Penelope Fitzgerald , A.

Byatt , Pat Barker , or Muriel Spark. If you enjoyed Jordan, try Hanif Kureishi. A brief biography of Kay at the Poetry Archive, with links to Kay reading from her work. Hanif Kureishi Web resources: Philip Larkin Detailed biographical and bibliographical information at the University of Hull, the location of Larkin's papers.

A brief overview of Larkin's poetry and career. Biography and select bibliography at the Academy of American Poets site. Andrea Levy " Guardian , 21 Jan offers more information about Levy and her work. In " Made in Britain " Guardian , 18 Sept , Levy offers her description of the day 50 authors of Caribbean, Asian, and African decent appear to be photographed. Reviews of Levy's Small Island: John Mullan offers a four-part critical review of Levy's novel for the Guardian: Doris Lessing Web resources: The " David Lodge " page at Literary Heritage West Midlands offers a brief biography, a bibliography of Lodge's work, and some links to other resources.

Elaine Showalter reflects on the genre of academic novels in " Campus Follies " Guardian , 10 Sept , an excerpt from her book Faculty Towers: If you enjoyed Lodge, try another academic novel by Kingsley Amis or another view of the s presented by A. Byatt or Margaret Drabble. Caryl Phillips " Kingdom of the Blind " Guardian , 17 July provides a brief biography of MacInnes and an analysis of his place within the British literature of the s.

Historical Contexts A page detailing the history of Notting Hill offers information about the Notting Hill race riots of More information on "Teddy Boys," or "Teds," in comparison to punks and into recent decades, as well as more details about the "Teddy Boy" look and a picture link courtesy of the Internet Archive.

Open thread: Is British fiction in crisis?

Another description of the development of the Teddy Boy culture during the post-war years, authored by Brian A. Rushgrove, with an emphasis on how the look was reported in commercial venues, along with quotations from the Daily Mail and other periodicals. Rare photos of Teddy Girls , as well as a photo essay that discusses the Ted look for men and women, appear to be no longer online.

However, you can read about the exhibit and see some photos in this blog post from and the article " When the Girls Came Out to Play " Times , 5 March At the BBC 20th Century Vox archive site, visit the " Entertainment " page and the excerpts under "Saturdays" to listen to former "Teddy Boys" talk about a Saturday night on the town. The excerpts " Down at the Boozer " and " Out with the Girls "offer some further historical context, too. Further information about people, places, and things which appear in MacInnes's Absolute Beginners Historical resources for Atonement: A series of links, pictures, and stories for " Dunkirk Remembered " at BBC News, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the rescue, including one on " Dunkirk: An interview 31 March with McEwan at Salon.

Paul Muldoon Iris Murdoch Web resources: One page has a detailed biographical profile and another a bibliography as well as links to other sites. The Sea, the Sea The National Theatre offers excerpts from critical reviews of a well-received production of Look Back in Anger , staged in Resources on post-war drama from the " " program of Changing Stages.

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In " Godotmania " Guardian , 4 Jan , director Peter Hall discusses the influence of Beckett's Waiting for Godot on the British theater in the s and the first British production, which appeared the year before Look Back in Anger. Information about Butler's Education Act of and its implications for education across social classes. Caryl Phillips Carly Phillips, Writer offers some biographical information about Phillips, as well as summaries of his work and a calendar of recent reading tours.


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A site titled Caryl Phillips provides a more detailed biography of Phillips along with links to primary and secondary resources. The " Caryl Phillips " page at the site for Contemporary Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English , has links to short critical commentaries as well as some historical and political contexts for Phillips' work.

Net " offers a frequently updated, comprehensive fan site with many resources. Some annotations to Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. For a complete listing of online resources for Pullman, visit Phil Nel's links for Pullman. Historical background on the Carribean.

Contemporary British women fiction writers - Literature - Christchurch City Libraries

Compare cover designs for different editions of Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea. The Harry Potter Lexicon offers a wealth of information about the series. For more, see Phil Nel's comprehensive web links for Rowling. Explore Meg Rosoff's own website , including her C. Read Rosoff's entries for her book blog at the Guardian. An interview with Rosoff from the Guardian 30 July on the occasion of her second book, another interview from Penguin books, and a profile from School Library Journal 1 March which offers some details on Rosoff's trans-atlantic career.

Read Roy's essay about the U. Information about Kerala , about divorce in India , about the caste system , and about communism in India from the site for Postcolonial Studies at Emory. An interview with Roy at Salon. A biography of Rushdie. The Postcolonial Web's page on Rushdie , with links to critical readings of his works.

Salman Rushdie Page by Subir Grewal offers extensive information about Rushie, from biography to interviews to information on the fatwa. The site for Postcolonial Studies at Emory provides historical and cultural context for Rushdie's work: Reading resources on for Midnight's Children Some study questions.

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An overview of the novel with discussion questions from Penguin. The promise of a multi-media study environment for Rushdie's novel from Columbia University.

Resources on Laurence Sterne and Tristram Shandy , an inter-text for Midnight's Children The title page of Volume 2 and a brief overview of the novel. A summary of the novel and its themes. The page for " Samuel Selvon " at World Literature in English offers a brief biography with information about his work and its cultural context. A profile of Sillitoe on his 80th birthday by D.

Taylor for the Guardian 1 March Another biography -- longer, but without notes or citations for its information -- is also available. Information about and pictures of the type of factory where Arthur Seaton of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning works, by way of the Raleigh Cycle factory where Sillotoe worked when he was young.

Kalle Virnes reports on some of the regional dialect in the novel. When Arthur Seaton responds to Doreen as if he doesn't know about Goose Fair, he's really trying hard to dissemble: Sillitoe reflects on his writing process on the occasion of a visit to Bradford for a screening of the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. He offers more on his writing process while commenting on Nottingham, his former home.

The program for a conference titled " The Importance of Being Arthur: Representations of Men and Masculinity, " sponsored by the University of Surrey Roehampton July , including abstracts for the papers presented. If you enjoyed Sillitoe and would like to read more about s Britain through literature, try Colin MacInnes 's Absolute Beginners The British Council website for contemporary authors has a brief biograpy of Simpson, which includes the awards she has won.