| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £7.10
Trade in Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £7.10, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A major work of criticism, altogether original and full of the most remarkable and profound insights.
(Comparative Literature )"I want you to know, Sancho, that the famous Amadis of Gaul was one of the most perfect knight errants. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
The book argues that the novel as a form is historically preoccupied with one particular dilemma: That when young, each of us believes that the OTHERS have some passport to community that we ourselves lack. The path through life (to maturity or to death) takes place through imitation of, and competition with, those persons who seem to have achieved what we wish ourselves to achieve. As part of this, we often chase after objects whose possession promises to "transform" us into someone else. Think of Swann and high society, Don Quixote and knighthood. If we tilt at windmills-- or seek achievements we don't value once we have them-- it may be because we thought these symbols will yield not merely themselves but also what they symbolize: Don Quixote hopes to become a knight, Swann hopes to become an aristocrat.
When the transformation doesn't happen-- when, for example, Groucho Marx becomes a member of the country club and discovers he's still as uncouth as he always was -- the possession disappoints. The victim then either matures, or sets off on another treasure hunt.
There has never been a work of literary criticism so revealing of the human psyche as DECEIT, DESIRE AND THE NOVEL. Girard's book focuses on envy, but in the process reveals a path to becoming genuine. If nothing else, this book will send you back to Proust, Cervantes and Stendhal greedy for text.
The first insight is that snobs do not have insight into the source of their desires. They instead believe, and feel, that their desires arise from within themselves. They genuinely believe that the object is valuable in and of itself and not just because someone else has it. The shocking corollary of this discovery is that if it appears to snobs that their desires come from within themselves (Like my own) then how can I be sure that my own desires do not originate in the same way as theirs? The second insight - and devastating blow to individualism - is that we are not different to the snob and that almost all of our desires are imitations of other people's desire. That is, I desire it because I see someone else desiring it.
I used to be quite cynical of people who claim that a book "changed my life," but this book really has transformed my view of myself and others. Girard is a must read, and re-read, for everyone. But please don't be like certain liberal priests who use Girard like they used to use Freud - as a weapon to use on one's enemies. Girard's ideas are weapons to use on oneself.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
