Silences (Hardcover)

An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory by Dr Andrew Bennett 3.8 out of 5 stars (12)

Mother to Daughter, Daughter to Mother by Tillie Olsen £6.75

Tell ME a Riddle (Women Writers: Texts and Contexts) by Tillie Olsen £20.85

The Paris Review Interviews: v. 1 by Philip Gourevitch 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £9.09

How Fiction Works by James Wood 3.7 out of 5 stars (7)  £6.69

› Explore similar items

Review
Even Olsen's most admiring fans will concede the structural limitations of this book which confronts, directly and higgledy-piggledy, the writer's dilemma, the relationship of individual circumstance to the creation of literature. Her personal experience (for years, because of everyday exigencies, "the simplest circumstances for creation did not exist") is more than merely representative: it colors her outlook and informs her work. Here the thematic preoccupation with Silences (writing opportunities deferred or eroded entirely) appears in two talks and a book foreword, intense, mannered pieces which fully suggest the extent of her concern: largely for women, whose efforts have most often been diverted, but essentially for anyone encountering unjust obstacles - Hardy and Melville are among those singled out. "One Out of Twelve" rightly questions the underrepresentation of women writers in college literature courses and anthologies, a condition happily somewhat improved since her 1971 MLA speech. And the longish foreword to a reprint of Rebecca Harding Davis' 1861 Life in the Iron Mills, a fair-minded biography, further testifies to her deep sympathy and identification with writers who portray the dignity of simple lives and endure their own lost possibilities ("the leeching of belief, of will, the damaging of capacity"). The rest of the book - the larger part - consists of the notes, jottings, and sources for the quotations and thoughts in the three more finished pieces; necessarily patchy and repetitious, they may interest the devoted as a partial record of her reading (V. Woolf seems to lead the list) but they add little overall. An unbalanced work, but the shaped writings merit attention. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
A study of the crucial relationship between circumstances - of sex, economic class, colour, the times and climate into which one is born - and creativity. The book draws on the lives, letters, diaries and testimonies of writers such as Melville, Hardy, Blake and Rimbaud. Tillie Olsen focuses on the financial and cultural pressures which obstructed, or silenced, their work. She then turns to those who have lost most: women writers, their energies deflected into domesticity and motherhood; black American writers, only 11 of whom published more than two novels from 1850-1950.

There are no customer reviews yet.   Create your own review
Video reviews New feature! Amazon now allows customers to upload product video reviews. Use a webcam or video camera to record and upload reviews to Amazon.	Ad feedback

Close Reading: A list by Hugh Selwyn Mauberley   english literature booklist - 1st year at anglia ruskin: A list by Amber Martin   Essential for English: A list by An Individual Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Literary Studies > 19th Century
• Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Literary Studies > 20th Century
• Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Cultural Studies

• 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.