Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives
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Review
`The funniest book I've read all year... Novelists in Professor Sutherland's hands are, above all, lively company.' --Evening Standard
'Sutherland is good value: provocative, polymathic and well practised in the art of literary criticism' --Times
'Pithy quotes and witty moments' --Sunday Telegraph
'A modern take on a reassuringly ancient format' --New Statesman
'FT Books of the Year: The fruit of decades of reading and research... A witty, and enjoyably wide-ranging book.' --FT
'(Sutherland has) magnificent and infectious enthusiasm for the books he reads... It is enthusiasm, indeed, that informs the book.' --Spectator
'A bumper treat for fiction fanatics... drawn with incision and wit to make (for) exhilarating reading' --Daily Mail
A tremendously exhilarating book, John Sutherland s history of fiction in English ... is less a work of scholarship than it is a catalogue of pleasures ... There s something for every taste and, implicitly, an invitation to try some new or exotic items from fiction s smorgasbord. --Washington Post
'Sutherland is good value: provocative, polymathic and well practised in the art of literary criticism' --Times
'Pithy quotes and witty moments' --Sunday Telegraph
'A modern take on a reassuringly ancient format' --New Statesman
'FT Books of the Year: The fruit of decades of reading and research... A witty, and enjoyably wide-ranging book.' --FT
'(Sutherland has) magnificent and infectious enthusiasm for the books he reads... It is enthusiasm, indeed, that informs the book.' --Spectator
'A bumper treat for fiction fanatics... drawn with incision and wit to make (for) exhilarating reading' --Daily Mail
A tremendously exhilarating book, John Sutherland s history of fiction in English ... is less a work of scholarship than it is a catalogue of pleasures ... There s something for every taste and, implicitly, an invitation to try some new or exotic items from fiction s smorgasbord. --Washington Post
Book Description
This is the most complete history of fiction in English ever published. The world's greatest authority - arguably the only person who could have written it, John Sutherland - provides the lives of some 294 novelists writing in English, from the genre's seventeenth-century origins to the present day.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book as a present and had to parcel it off before reading it thoroughly. However I found it to be not only informative but a very entertaining, original and funny read. I have ordered another copy for myself and will give a fuller review when time allows. (I am responding to the fact that the only other reviewer on Amazon offered it only one star.) I think anyone who is interested in literature and enjoys reading would enjoy this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Picked this up on a whim in Waterstones and have never regretted the price. Written for those who having either passing interest in english fiction or are steeped in the classics of english literature, this tome gives and keeps on giving. It's a bit like Vasari or Suetonius in its conversational style, giving us the odd bit of salacious gossip on those whose words have made us despair as schoolchildren poring over what we thought were interminably boring texts, to the casual garden reader for whom the pleasure of the written imagination is a daily delight.
This is not a cover-to-cover book. It is undeniably the cliched coffee table book, something to dip into during boring adverts or a break in daily household chores. A book to read a single excerpt from before turning into bed; in which every two-four page biography gives us pause for thought.
For example, last night I let the book spill open at any such page it felt - yes, it's a book you can let the whimsy of fate control - to read about William Sharp. Never heard of him before, I thought, until I saw he wrote the "Sin-Eater" in 1895. Wasn't that a film with the late Heath Ledger? Turning from page 209 to 210 I found that indeed, the 2003 film, was based on the book by this author. Never knew that. I like the "Sin-Eater" film (something at which I am at odds with the author on - he describes it as "dire".) but had always thought it was from the mind of a Hollywood script writer.
Apparently not. Fascinating.
Last week I read how the stars of Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald waxed and waned in perfect symmetry against a backdrop of alcohol and friendship. It puts some of their novels in perspective.
I have learned some people came to authorship through fate, that my views on some need perspective - I never knew Baum (he of Oz fame) was so anti-Sioux. It changes ones view and reinforces that whilst our heroes and heroines can be tragically flawed, so are those who create them.
This is a book that ranges from the seventeeth century to the modern day. Seeing Robert Jordan, Julian Barnes, and Margaret Atwood brings the book even more relevancy as these are authors who are continuing to thrill us even today. It is written in a style that is lucid, thought-provoking, opinionated, amusing and serious in equal measure. Yet, most of all, this work by John Sutherland - for all its depth that shows how this Professor is at the every top of his subject matter - makes me want to go and read a lot of novels I'd never even heard of.
This is not a cover-to-cover book. It is undeniably the cliched coffee table book, something to dip into during boring adverts or a break in daily household chores. A book to read a single excerpt from before turning into bed; in which every two-four page biography gives us pause for thought.
For example, last night I let the book spill open at any such page it felt - yes, it's a book you can let the whimsy of fate control - to read about William Sharp. Never heard of him before, I thought, until I saw he wrote the "Sin-Eater" in 1895. Wasn't that a film with the late Heath Ledger? Turning from page 209 to 210 I found that indeed, the 2003 film, was based on the book by this author. Never knew that. I like the "Sin-Eater" film (something at which I am at odds with the author on - he describes it as "dire".) but had always thought it was from the mind of a Hollywood script writer.
Apparently not. Fascinating.
Last week I read how the stars of Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald waxed and waned in perfect symmetry against a backdrop of alcohol and friendship. It puts some of their novels in perspective.
I have learned some people came to authorship through fate, that my views on some need perspective - I never knew Baum (he of Oz fame) was so anti-Sioux. It changes ones view and reinforces that whilst our heroes and heroines can be tragically flawed, so are those who create them.
This is a book that ranges from the seventeeth century to the modern day. Seeing Robert Jordan, Julian Barnes, and Margaret Atwood brings the book even more relevancy as these are authors who are continuing to thrill us even today. It is written in a style that is lucid, thought-provoking, opinionated, amusing and serious in equal measure. Yet, most of all, this work by John Sutherland - for all its depth that shows how this Professor is at the every top of his subject matter - makes me want to go and read a lot of novels I'd never even heard of.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This substantial volume (more than 800 pages) is a review of 294 novelists writing in the English language, chosen from the vast panorama available from the past almost four hundred years. The range is very wide. Included are authors of romances, dramas, westerns, adventures of many sorts, thrillers, sci-fi, and even a few writers of stories for children. But it is not a straightforward set of biographical entries of the `great and the good'; there are some surprising omissions of the latter. Instead, the choice is a very personal, idiosyncratic, collection of writers the author says have influenced him during a lifetime of reading. Eyebrows will doubtless be raised at the fact that Patricia Cornwall, Amanada Ros (winner of an award for `The World's Worst Novelist'), and Jeffery Archer, to name a few surprises, make an appearance (although the latter may have preferred not to have been included).
There is a large number of Victorian writers, reflecting the author's encyclopaedic knowledge of the literature of that period. Victorian authors were an extraordinary bunch; often intellectually precocious, sometimes illegitimate and from humble backgrounds, frequently soon parentless, either through death or abandonment. Not surprisingly, they commonly had difficult lives as adults, producing many children, or none, and dying tragically young (commonly of TB or drink, a few committing suicide). Even if they themselves did not succumb, they were surrounded by others who did. J.M. Barrie, for example, adopted five young boys after the premature deaths of their parents. One died soon afterwards, one possibly committed suicide and another definitely did. Madness, and even the proverbial `lunatic wife (rarely a husband) locked away in an asylum', features not only in their novels, but also in not a few of their real lives. The lives of more recent authors are often just as unstable. Early days drifting aimlessly from one low-level job to another, multiple marriages (frequently unconventional), and alcoholism leading to premature death (at least TB had been conquered) all figure prominently. Many authors in this collection were huge best sellers in their day, some earning considerable fortunes and living extravagantly in grand style, but now are forgotten and unread; salutary reminders of the fickleness of public taste and the transitory nature of fame.
The entries vary in length from barely a page to several. They are all peppered with anecdotes, personal views and pithy observations, told with a splendid dry humor. It is an immensely enjoyable read and has given me quite a few additions to my `must read' list.
There is a large number of Victorian writers, reflecting the author's encyclopaedic knowledge of the literature of that period. Victorian authors were an extraordinary bunch; often intellectually precocious, sometimes illegitimate and from humble backgrounds, frequently soon parentless, either through death or abandonment. Not surprisingly, they commonly had difficult lives as adults, producing many children, or none, and dying tragically young (commonly of TB or drink, a few committing suicide). Even if they themselves did not succumb, they were surrounded by others who did. J.M. Barrie, for example, adopted five young boys after the premature deaths of their parents. One died soon afterwards, one possibly committed suicide and another definitely did. Madness, and even the proverbial `lunatic wife (rarely a husband) locked away in an asylum', features not only in their novels, but also in not a few of their real lives. The lives of more recent authors are often just as unstable. Early days drifting aimlessly from one low-level job to another, multiple marriages (frequently unconventional), and alcoholism leading to premature death (at least TB had been conquered) all figure prominently. Many authors in this collection were huge best sellers in their day, some earning considerable fortunes and living extravagantly in grand style, but now are forgotten and unread; salutary reminders of the fickleness of public taste and the transitory nature of fame.
The entries vary in length from barely a page to several. They are all peppered with anecdotes, personal views and pithy observations, told with a splendid dry humor. It is an immensely enjoyable read and has given me quite a few additions to my `must read' list.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
249 Novelists in search of Readers.
I was somewhat apprehensive of spending my hard-earned cash on this book. I need not have worried. The first thing you notice is the shear size of it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dr No
An Utterly Usless Book
I purchased this book under the impression that the title, "Lives of The Novelists" meant that the author intended to write biographical sketches of various novelists. Read more
Published 5 months ago by TravelingMan
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