Imprint: Vintage
Published: 03/05/2018
ISBN: 9780099554493
Length: 336 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 20mm x 129mm
Weight: 268g
RRP: £10.99
'The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction' Observer
How does the novel represent human consciousness on the page?
In eleven sparkling essays on some of the great novelists of the last 200 years – from Charles Dickens to Martin Amis, Henry James to Philip Roth – David Lodge pursues this question with characteristic verve and wit. One of the best novelists and critics of his generation, Lodge is the perfect guide to look afresh at the mysterious workings of the creative mind.
Imprint: Vintage
Published: 03/05/2018
ISBN: 9780099554493
Length: 336 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 20mm x 129mm
Weight: 268g
RRP: £10.99
The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction
A fascinating survey of how novels convey our thoughts
The abandonment of civilized talk about literature by the ‘theory’ fraternity would leave us very short if it were not for the likes of Lodge, the quality of whose prose and insights, not least because they both come matured from the casks of his own vocation, is a high treat. Leave consciousness to the neurophysiologists and philosophers, and explore human experience and selfhood with Lodge and the novelists, and enjoy
Lodge is a clear writer, wise about things and a careful reader and in general kind even to people who plainly irritate him
He excels when he writes about books. His wide learning and through understanding of critical trends give confidence and enthusiasm to his work
Lodge’s animating spark is his sedulousness, his ability to marshal the facts, pronounce a judgement and then subtly qualify it
Consciousness and the Novel makes a bright, instructive introduction to David Lodge – as critic and novelist – for anyone who does not know his work
Most other critics would make heavy weather of such topics, but Lodge always scintillates