Non-Fiction Books
'Arnold Bennett was born in a street called Hope Street. A street less hopeful it would be hard to imagine.' Thus begins Margaret Drabble's biography of a man whose most famous achievement was to re-create, in such novels as The Old Wives' Tale and Clayhanger, the life, atmosphere and character of the 'Five Towns' region in which he was born and grew up. Arnold Bennett is a very personal book. 'What interests me', writes the author, 'is Bennett's background, his childhood and origins, for they are very similar to my own. My mother's family came from the Potteries, and the Bennett novels seem to me to portray a way of life that still existed when I was a child, and indeed persists in certain areas. So like all books this has been partly an act of self-exploration.' Of Bennett as a writer Drabble says 'The best books I think are very fine indeed, on the highest level, deeply moving, original and dealing with material that I had never before encountered in fiction, but only in life: I feel they have been underrated, and my response to them is so constant, even after years of work on them and constant re-readings, that I want to communicate enthusiasm.' Of Bennett as a man she paints an affectionate portrait, not glossing over the irritability, dyspepsia and rigidity which at times made him so difficult a companion but reminding us too of his honesty, kindliness and sensitivity. 'Many a time,' she writes at the end of the book, 're-reading a novel, reading a letter or a piece of his Journal, I have wanted to shake his hand, or to thank him, to say well done. I have written this instead.'
Hardy's life, diverse artistic achievements, and milieu, are examined by scholars, critics, and historians
A look at British culture during the age of Queen Victoria.
Selections from England's great writers, describing various sites and scenes, are accompanied by commentary on how those writers have affected our tastes
The Tradition of Women's Lectures in Japan
Sir Paul Harvey's original Oxford Companion to English Literaure, published in 1932, was the book that began Oxford's celebrated Companion series. In its various editions in the half-century since then, it has enjoyed an enormously faithful following and unflagging sales (over 400,000 to date). Now, for the Fifth Edition, the eminent novelist and biographer Margaret Drabble has put together the most substantial and significant revision in the book's distinguished history. The Classic Guide to English Literary Culture Here, thoroughly updated, is the standard reference work on English literature, both clasic and contemporary. The virtues established by Harvey are intact: the useful plot summaries, the separate entries on important fictional characters, the countless biographical articles on authors and other important figures in the world of letters, the lightness of touch that makes the book a pleasure to read. As ever, this is an essential book for libraries large and small, for students, for teachers, for everyone interested in English literature. Revisions Deepen and Widen Book's Appeal Drabble's revisions not only bring the volume up to date; they both deepen and widen its appeal. Topics once regarded as non-literary--detective stories, science fiction, children's literature, comic strips, for example--are now included, as are numerous foreign language authers who have become well-known in translation. There are also entries on composers who have adapted English texts to musical forms and articles on visual artists whose work has been touched by the English literary consciousness. The book covers all the important movements and critical theories (including the latest developments in Freudian and Marxist criticism and Saussurean linguistics and its successors). What is more, the entries on classic works--Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, The Faerie Queen, and many others--now incorporate the findings of the latest scholarship. In still another innovation, the entries now offer the reader a guide to turther study and research by referring to the relevant biographies, memoirs, critical studies, and standard scholarly editions of many of the important works. Also, the book's appendices on censorship, copyright, and the calendar have been updated, and an exhaustive cross-referencing system in the manner of the more recent Companiions has been adopted. About the Editor: Margaret Drabble's many books include The Middle Ground, The Realms of Gold, The Ice Age, Thank You All Very Much, and A Writer's Britain. Standard Features: Among the many notable features distinguishing The Oxford Companion to English Literature are: BL Alphabetically arranged entries BL Entries on important individual works BL Author entries that include concise biographical information and cite their major works BL Many entries on historians, critics, philosophers, and booksellers BL Coverage of many American authors and of foreign language authors famous in translation BL Entries on non-literary figures famous in a literary context, from Penelope Rich to Ottoline Morrell BL Articles on literary societies, clubs, and coffee houses BL Definitions of literary and artistic movements, from Existentialism to the New Criticism, from Neo-classicism to Structuralism BL Entries on prizes, periodicals, newspapers, and literary agents BL Updated appendices on censorship, copyright, and the calendar BL Extensive system of internal cross references, redesigned in the manner of the more recent Companions
Based on the vastly popular Fifth Edition of The Oxford Companion to English Literature edited by Margaret Drabble and Jenny Stringer, this indispensable volume offers over five thousand alphabetically arranged entries on individual novels, plays, songs, poems, novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, philosophers, historians, fictional characters, literary movements, legends, and much more. Like its parent volume, this abridgement features useful plot summaries, separate entries on important fictional characters, and countless biographical articles on authors and other influential figures in the world of letters, all presented with the same lightness of touch that has made the original work such a pleasure to read. Fully revised and updated with sixty new entries on contemporary writers including Peter Ackroyd, Martin Amis, W. Robertson Davies, P.D. James, Toni Morison, and Jeanette Winterson, this edition also includes new appendices listing the winners of the Nobel, Booker, and Pulitzer prizes. It covers topics once regarded as non-literary--detective stories, science fiction, children's stories, and comic strips among them--as well as important movements and critical theories, including the latest developments in Freudian and Marxist criticism. With generous coverage of literature from around the world, entries on literary movements, critics, and critical theories, updated information on modern authors and works, and several entirely new essays on a number of topics such as parody, anachronism, autobiography, heroic drama, and foreign influences on English literature, this is a book that readers will find indispensable.
Chatto Counterblast No. 17. Author Margaret Drabble examines home ownership and mortgage tax relief.
The first biography of literary lion (ANGLO-SAXON ATTITUDES) and gay pioneer Angus Wilson (1913-1991), captured brilliantly by one of our greatest novelists. In this vivid and absorbing biography, Margaret Drabble has created a portrait of an artist of enormous courage, a man who confronted challenge to the end.
The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws is an original and brilliant work. Margaret Drabble weaves her own story into a history of games, in particular jigsaws, which have offered her and many others relief from melancholy and depression. Alongside curious facts and discoveries about jigsaw puzzles — did you know that the 1929 stock market crash was followed by a boom in puzzle sales? — Drabble introduces us to her beloved Auntie Phyl, and describes childhood visits to the house in Long Bennington on the Great North Road, their first trip to London together, the books they read, the jigsaws they completed. She offers penetrating sketches of her parents, her siblings, and her children; she shares her thoughts on the importance of childhood play, on art and writing, on aging and memory. And she does so with her customary intelligence, energy, and wit. This is a memoir like no other.
David Hockney, one of the world’s greatest living artists, is creating some of the most significant work of his long career, painting the landscape and changing seasons of his native Yorkshire. These large, colorful works are the capstone of his engagement with nature, not only in England but also in the American Southwest, through the media of painting and photography. This book, the catalog of the first major Hockney museum exhibition in many years, offers a glorious view of the landscape as seen by the artist, and it includes not only his recent paintings but also his iPhone and iPad drawings. Essays by leading art historians—as well as a more literary piece by novelist Margaret Drabble and Hockney’s own reflections on his recent work—explore Hockney’s art from various perspectives.