Briefer Mention

Briefer Mention and Books Received challenging and generative some of the main issues that Joyceans will have to work with. Sheldon Brivic Temple University • Briefer Mention · Keith, W. J. Regions of the Imagination: The Development of British Rural Fiction. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988. $30.00 This book is the third in a series of volumes devoted to English rural literature, the first two being The Rural Tradition (1974) and The Poetry of Nature (1980). Here again Keith believes that even when well established "writers are viewed within a specifically regional context, other qualities emerge." ELT readers may wish to focus on Parts II and III: The Flowering of Regionalism and Beyond Regionalism. There such figures as R. D. Blackmore, Thomas Hardy, Sheila Kaye-Smith and D. H. Lawrence are considered. Lodge, David. The Modes of Modern Writing: Metaphor, Metonymy, and the Typology of Modern Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. Paper $14.95 First published in 1977, this reprint is now in paperback. Part I examines "fundamental questions of literary theory and critical practice " and discusses Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" and Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. In Part III, theory is applied to the works of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, among others. Radell, Karen Marguerite. Affirmation in a Moral Wasteland: A Comparison of Ford Madox Ford and Graham Greene. New York: Peter Lang, 1987. [American University Studies, Series IV (English Language and Literature), Volume 54.] $30.00 Radell seeks to add her voice to those who would improve Ford's place in literary history, claiming that "It is time to give Ford proper credit, not only for modernity of technique but of theme as well." Special attention is given to Parades End, whose hero Christopher Tietjens allowed Ford to "fully articulate his personal response to the consuming entropy of modern life." Significant attention is also given to some of Ford's non-fiction, especially No Enemy (1929), Thus to Revisit (1921), and The English Novel: From the Earliest Days to the Death of Joseph Conrad (1929). 271 Briefer Mention and Books Received Rylance, Rick, ed. Debating Texts: Readings in 20th Century Literary Theory and Method. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987. Cloth $35.00 Paper $14.95 Rylance's purpose, aimed at the novice, is to "provide an accessible, introductory selection of critical texts and information about supporting theories and contexts from this century." He succeeds admirably. This book should be useful in the classroom. It is divided into seven sections which represent "leading influential schools" of criticism (1. The Force of Tradition; 2. Versions of Formalism; 3. Analysis of Structure and Meaning; 4. Developments After Structuralism; 5. Interpretations, Contexts, Readers; 6. Marxist Approaches; 7. Feminism and Literature). Each section's contents are arranged chronologically and "weighted towards contemporary arguments which interconnect in many ways." Sections are prefaced by Rylance's overview of the major issues therein as well as an annotated bibliography which offers suggestions for further reading. Sullivan, Ernest W, II, and David J. Murray. The Donne Dalhousie Discovery: Proceedings of a Symposium on the Acquisition and Study of the John Donne and Joseph Conrad Collections at Texas Tech University . Lubbock, TX: Friends of the University Library, 1987. $17.00 The symposium was organized to demonstrate, among other things, "the value and scholarly use of the Joseph Conrad Collection" housed at Texas Tech. Conrad scholars will want to note two essays: "The Texas Tech Collection: Its History and Significance" (Donald W. Rude); "Common Texts and Uncommon Intentions: Scholars Confront the Printed Page" (David Leon Higdon). Thesing, William B., and Stephen Pulsford. "Mrs Humphry Ward: A Bibliography," Victorian Fiction Research Guides, XIII (University of Queensland), 1987. $8.00 These 70 pages contain an introduction, as well as primary and secondary bibliographies. Say Thesing and Pulsford: "The original contribution of our bibliography is a far more expansive listing of the various editions of her novels published in Britain, America, and other countries. Information concerning title pages is also provided. Listings of her non-fiction books and pamphlets, translations, plays, and collections are also given full treatment here. Another original contribution of our bibliography is to offer the most comprehensive listing...