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Amazon.co.uk Review
It is hard to identify what is most valuable about Simon Mason's Rough Guide to Classic Novels. It is, first and foremost, an astonishingly comprehensive guide to the very best in world literature, as ready to celebrate a quirky modern novel as it is to extol the virtues of a masterpiece of the past. It is also an extremely utilitarian resource: if you want to identify and track down one of the great books (which may be familiar to you only by reputation), the chances are good that it will be within these 370-odd pages (though, at times, the highly personal (even eccentric) choice of novels will surprise -- and give pause to -- some readers). But perhaps the greatest value of this compact yet information-packed guide is the absolutely irresistible impulse it stirs in the reader to grab handfuls of the books mentioned and consume them again (or, for that matter, todevour for the first time a celebrated novel that you have been feeling guilty about not reading).
Mason's literary erudition is jawdropping, and the coverage broad (from Tolstoy to Doris Lessing, and from Jane Austen to Raymond Chandler – the book at times overlaps with the same publisher’s Rough Guide to Crime Fiction). Combine all this with the highly accessible (but always apposite) analyses and breakdowns of the books discussed, and it's hard to imagine the enterprise being surpassed.
Of course, the Rough Guide imprint prides itself on its edgy, unstuffy approach, and the subject of classic literary fiction must have presented quite a challenge to Mason and his editor Joe Staines; in a dumbed-down age, the guide is a consummate demonstration that it is possible to celebrate the finest achievements of the human race in the arts and humanities without couching them in forbidding academic language. The sidebars and diversions shoehorned in here (including ‘Sex, Censorship and the Novel’, ‘Outsiders’ and a section on vampire fiction called ‘Literary Bloodsuckers’) give a particular pleasure, as do the pithy and highly opinionated squibs on film and TV adaptations of many of the great books included here.
Like many entries in the Rough Guide series, however, there should be a warning on the jacket: reading this guide is going to cost you a lot of small change plugging those gaps in your library. --Barry Forshaw
Kate Mosse- Author of Sepulchre and Labyrinth
"... it reads like a novel and it's partly because Simon is a really great writer... The thing that distinguishes Simon's book from the other guides that there have been in in this area is he has squarely said it cannot be a classic if it's not entertaining...it's fantastic, it really is"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compact yet providing great ideas for reading directions,
By Annabel Gaskell "gaskella2" (Nr Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Rough Guide to Classic Novels (Rough Guides Reference Titles) (Paperback)
Covering just over 200 great novels, you can argue til the cows come home about the editor's choices - who was left out, why this novel and not that, etc, etc, etc. List books about books are entirely subjective, but can take you in totally different directions in reading.
This book is split into 12 genres and has a world-wide breadth to it, and pleasingly for each book in translation (of which there are many), a suggested translator is given. For each novel a suggestion for further reading is given, plus the best film/TV adaptations where appropriate. Some of the choices are not the obvious ones - for instance we don't have a Maigret book for George Simenon, but 'Dirty snow' about a teenage killer, although Maigret does merit his own sidebar. Some of the genres used are the normal ones, but often with a twist - so we have 'Crime and punishment'; also 'Rites of passage', and 'Making it'; my favourite was 'A sense of place'. The test I have of these catalogues is how many books I buy from it - I've already ordered half a dozen. A great book to dip into and feed your bibliomania!
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential for Everyone's Shelf, and Pocket!,
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This review is from: The Rough Guide to Classic Novels (Rough Guides Reference Titles) (Paperback)
5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential for Every Bookshelf, August 23, 2008 Creating a guide to Classic Novels would seem to be an impossible task, yet Simon Mason has produced a superb book that reaches far and wide - and yet it wears its considerable learning lightly. It's a breathtaking book, truly, yet it never makes you feel overwhelmed. This has in great measure to do with the descriptive sections on the books, which are so engagingly written that they made me want to go out immediately and purchase the books, since it was clear I'd missed a lot of good stuff in my reading life. The book is cleverly divided into themes, such as Love, Family, War and so on, and includes novels by non-English language writers. Next to each entry is a 'where to go next' and 'screen adaptations' section, both of which are hugely useful, and thoroughly intelligent. I suspect that many people don't ever get to read the classics because they have no idea what they are. They get turned off by reading Dickens when they're eight and they assume that there are no other classics. This book can change that, and inspire any reader, young or old. I promise you you will find yourself introduced to many authors whose works you may not have thought about, or even known about, and there's not a dud in the bunch. I'm sure some people will miss a favorite author here or there, but remember, this is a guide - it will show you what you really need to know in broad terms and it does not aim to include everything. That's part of its charm. It'll show you the really good stuff and allow you to by-pass those novels by famous authors that, well, are not their finest work. It's a delicious book; small, compact, fits easily in a pocket, and its full of excellent things. I'm getting some more copies as gifts for a bunch of people. Hey, they'll actually thank me for this gift! Dr. Allan G. Hunter author of 'Stories We Need To Know' and 'The Six Archetypes of Love'
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read in itself,
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This review is from: The Rough Guide to Classic Novels (Rough Guides Reference Titles) (Paperback)
A surprisingly enjoyable read in its own right. It feels like browsing through a gorgeous catalogue of enticing book goodies. The selection is unusual in places, but means it takes the hard work out of searching for worthwhile reads off the beaten track.
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