Studies in Fiction

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reading list

The reading list for the course contains four novels, each of which sets the present time of the fiction in one day. Among other matters, discussions will consider what may follow from this choice, its implications and effects. Similarities and differences will be explored.

internet links and other information will be added from time to time
webpage last updated: 02 September 2009
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date of class

author
click on underlined names

novels to be discussed
click on underlined titles, etc

some publishers
(new & used copies)

I advise students not to read about a novel before reading the novel. This includes prefaces and introductions - including any that the author him- or herself wrote. (It also includes following many of the links provided below.) Otherwise, how can one gauge the extent of the ease or difficulty of getting into the novel; one's surprise or the confirmation of one's expectations. AG

If you'd like to suggest a web link for an author or a novel, send it in an email to the class tutor.
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25 September

introduction to the course - CLICK HERE for an excerpt from James Joyce, Ulysses (1922).
Copies of the excerpt will be available at this first class, but your interest and satisfaction will be increased by having read it in advance.

2 & 9 October

Virginia Woolf

The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain

recommended biography: Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (London: Chatto & Windus, 1996; Vintage, 1997)

Mrs Dalloway (1925)

Spark Notes for Mrs Dalloway

Mrs Dalloway - IMDb page for the film, 1997): Vanessa Redgrave (Mrs Dalloway), Michael Kitchen (Peter Walsh), Rupert Graves (Septimus Warren Smith), Robert Hardy (Sir William Bradshaw)

Oxford University Press: The World's Classics (ed. Bradshaw),
Penguin Classics (ed Showalter), Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, others

16 October - no class

NOTE: part or all of the 23 October class may conclude the discussion of Mrs Dalloway, depending on whether we feel there is unfinished business on 9 October. If discussion does continue into 23 October, we will make adjustments accordingly.

23 October

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - IMDb page for the film, 1970): Tom Courtenay (Ivan Denisovich)

Penguin Modern Classics

30 October & 6 November

Graham Swift

Last Orders (1996)

Last Orders - IMDb page for the film, 2001): Michael Caine (Jack), Tom Courtenay (Vic), David Hemmings (Lennie), Bob Hoskins (Ray), Helen Mirren (Amy), Ray Winstone (Vince)

Picador

13, 20 & 27 November

Ian McEwan

Saturday (2005)

Jonathan Cape

5 December

selections and review

this course syllabus is on the world wide web at http://tinyurl.com/ntnkaq
updates are added from time to time

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to book a place on the course

You can book a place on the course (10 meetings) by sending a cheque for Ł68 made out to "WEA" to Sylvia Lawrence, 7 Priory Crescent, Lewes, BN7 1HP. A limited number of places is available.

Enquiries can be made to Shirley Darlington tel. 01273 476206 or by email to shirleydarlington at yahoo.co.uk - substituting "@" for "at".

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other author and novel web links

There are other websites - even many other websites - for an individual author or title than those provided here. Some webpages contain the beginnings of essays which you may have to register to read the rest of (at a price).

If a novel is out of copyright - and sometimes even if not! - a website may offer the entire text.

Entering the author's name (within double inverted commas) or the title of the novel (within double inverted commas) into Google or other search engines will provide lists of links to author or title websites but also to other sites including booksellers offering to sell copies - see "internet book purchase" - and films or other adaptations of the novel. Do browse the web for author and novel sites: Jack Lynch's literary references on the net is a useful starting point for literary web-searching. The most comprehensive internet database for literary study is The Voice of the Shuttle.

AG
02 September 2009

local area bookshops
click to see

Lewes bookshops
The Bow Windows Bookshop
East Sussex bookshops
Much Ado Books (Alfriston)

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internet book purchase

I recommend (1) Amazon, for new books - at a discount - and links to sellers of used books, including US booksellers (whose books may take longer to reach you); (2) Abebooks for used books - now owned by Amazon; and (3) Alibris for used books. (In each case, use the UK branch, ending in .co.uk - not the US branch, ending in .com.)

For new books purchased from Amazon, there is no charge for posting - providing you choose the (slower) free delivery option.

Used books should be cheaper than new books - even sometimes Ł0.01 - but note the postal charges, which can be around Ł3 for each book; more if posted from the U.S.

AG

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This webpage is maintained by the class tutor. It was modified on 02 September 2009. If today's date is later than that, click refresh to see if it has been updated.