Reading the Novel in English 1950 - 2000 (eBook)

Brian W. Shaffer is Professor of English and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development at Rhodes College, Memphis. He is the author of The Blinding Torch: Modern British Fiction and the Discourse of Civilization (1993) and Understanding Kazuo Ishiguro (1998). He is also the co-editor with Hunt Hawkins of Approaches to Teaching Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and "The Secret Sharer" (2002) and the editor of A Companion to the British and Irish Novel 1945-2000 (Blackwell, 2005).

Acknowledgements.

Preface.

1. Introduction: Contexts and Concepts for Reading the Novel in
English, 1950-2000.

2. Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim (1953).

3. William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954).

4. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958).

5. Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1961).

6. Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea (1966).

7. J. M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians
(1980).

8. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale
(1985).

9. Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day
(1989).

10. Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy (1992).

11. Graham Swift's Last Orders (1996).

Index

"Shaffer provides an informative and contextualizing
introduction that deals with issues of form and the shift from the
'English novel' to the 'novel in English'
that was an important change in English literary studies over the
period covered. The book is written in an accessible style that
reflects its status as an introduction to the fiction of the
period. The novels are well chosen, take an international focus,
and provide a representative snapshot of fiction in English over
the period ... .There is a sensitive reading of each novel that
takes into account the historical and cultural contexts informing
them. Taken all in all, the book is a good introduction to the
period and thus achieves what it sets out to do." (Year's
Work in English Studies, 2008)



"This is a main theme to a comprehensive study of ten
novels: Kingsley Amis's Luck Jim; William Golding's
Lord of the Flies; Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart; Muriel
Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Jean Rhys's Wide
Sargasso Sea; J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians;
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale; Kazuo
Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day; Patrick McCabe's The
Butcher Boy; and Graham Smith's Last Orders...[Reading
the Novel in English 1950-2000] is an asset to anyone who
teaches any of these novels." (English Literature in
Transition 1880 - 1920)

"This is an excellent introductory study, consisting of a
series of essays concerning various important Anglophone novels
from the period of the post-war to the present day. The selection
of texts is intriguing. The volume is well-informed by criticism of
the field and Shaffer's close reading is exemplary. His
interpretations cast fresh light on some novels that have become
canonical and therefore this study is of great use to students
generally and for those teaching them."

-Philip Tew, University College Northampton; Director, UK
Network for Modern Fiction Studies