Customer Reviews
Academic text - By: E. Crouch, 02 Dec 2008 
I used this as part of a module at University. The book is divided into useful chapters which allow the ease of use of this book. The writing is clear & effective & the writers are clever & though-provoking. However, if you are not so widely-read as the authors, you might have trouble following their lines of argument at times.
Allin all, a good academic text.
Easier to comprehend than most - odd lapses into pseudyness - By: Jonty H Campbell, 28 Oct 2008 
I like this book, it explains Eng Lit without indulgingin too many nerdy 'Fry & Laurie' type "well I saw six levels", "oh well I saw eight levels" pseudy intellectual onanism type of 'inpenetetrable gobs***e' that is so often a problem with other self-indulgent textbooks.
The useful thing with this book is the authors provide further reading on each subject a glossary list of examined & novels. My only minus is it's a tad light on poetry coverage & sophocles/greek plays.
If you're a total beginner to eng lit get a more basics primer first & read this alongside as it's halfway between A level & degree level. Read it with a pencil for your margin notes too!
Ten star rating and more - By: P. Clark, 22 Mar 2007 
This book achieves the impossible. It makes the difficult & obtuse polemical & theoretical debates of recent history easy to read. Yes, believe it or not! I cannot find enough congratulations to give for this excellent & learned book. The achievement of the age. Thank you for making clear sense of it all.My newly found bible for Literary Critical research.
A worthy introduction but only goes so far - By: Mr. RW Abbotson, 08 Mar 2007 
This book is a useful tool for students wishing to grasp the basics, & sample a broad range, of critical approaches to literature. However, if you wish to explore a particular approach to a higher level, then this book will not be adequate on its own. For example, the fact that only a few pages are dedicated to the concept of 'gender' goes to show that this really is only an introductory work, & it could be argued that literary theory is not something that can be 'summed up'in the form of brief, introductory chapters.
Having said this, each chapter provides reading lists for additional relevant material, & therefore it is a good way to break into the field. Just be prepared to getin the library & seek out other books if a particular approach interests you. Don't expect to rely entirely on this.
I love this book! - By: Joanna Spooner, 10 Nov 2006 Whilst trying to write an essay about desire, I became so confused I just wanted a book that would explain the various theoriesin simple language so that I would understand it. This book did just that. It provides introductions to complex topics & establishes a foundation of knowledge that you can build on with the handily referenced further reading, or reading of your own. Its now become my first port of call when writing essays, so I don't become tangled upin complex criticism & theories.
