Language of Fiction was the first book of criticism by the renowned novelist and critic David Lodge. His uniquely informed perspective - he was already the author of three successful novels at the time of its first publication in 1966 - and lucid exposition meant that the work proved a landmark of literary criticism, not least because it succeeded in communicating a radically new vision of English literature to a readership that reached well beyond the bounds of the academy. Now reissued with a new foreword, this major work from the pen of one of England's finest living writers is essential reading for all those who care about the creation and appreciation of literature.
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'Perhaps because he is a good novelist himself, Mr Lodge's subjection of various writers to detailed linguistic analysis is illuminating and exciting.' - Daily Telegraph
About the Author
David Lodge (1935-). Novelist and critic, whose many publications include Small World and Nice Work, both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction.
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First Sentence
Literary theory and criticism concerned with the novel are much inferior in both quantity and quality to theory and criticism of poetry. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Literary theory and criticism concerned with the novel are much inferior in both quantity and quality to theory and criticism of poetry. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By RR Waller
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
The range of approaches to literature expanded almost as rapidly as the novels themselves during the twentieth century; some approaches provide insights into the novels, others seem to mystify even the simplest of stories.
Lodge begins with the obvious - the language - examining linguistics and stylistics and other interpretative, evaluative approaches.
As professor of English Literature, he knows his subject well, covers a broad range of modern writing including problems of translations; moving on to stylistics, he examines links between stylistics and linguistics before looking at FR Leavis's moral dimensions. All this in Part One.
In Part Two, he examines Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and the more "modern and contemporary", ending with Martin Amis.
It is a very enjoyable, easy-to-read examination of novels by, not only an excellent literary critic, professor of literature but a novelist himself. Perhaps this is why he knows the subject so well - an insider.
Lodge begins with the obvious - the language - examining linguistics and stylistics and other interpretative, evaluative approaches.
As professor of English Literature, he knows his subject well, covers a broad range of modern writing including problems of translations; moving on to stylistics, he examines links between stylistics and linguistics before looking at FR Leavis's moral dimensions. All this in Part One.
In Part Two, he examines Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and the more "modern and contemporary", ending with Martin Amis.
It is a very enjoyable, easy-to-read examination of novels by, not only an excellent literary critic, professor of literature but a novelist himself. Perhaps this is why he knows the subject so well - an insider.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Another Routledge text marred by frequent and intrusive typographical errors
14 Nov 2011
By E. J. Lindon
Format:Paperback
I have read the first thirty pages of this book and have already lost patience. Not with the author. I admire Lodge's fiction and criticism: his acumen, his discernment, his slow-cooking humour. I'm just sick of the constant slew of typographical errors that irritate, disrupt and mislead. Here is a sample:
p. 4 "its owns" for "its own"
p. 14 "it was became" for "it was because"
p. 15 "war would be an acceptable synonym for must have been" for "was..."
p. 21 "I have, never felt" for "I have never felt"
p. 24 "when parsed would be awkward and jarring" for "when passed would be awkward and jarring"
p. 29 "Thus notion of style" for "This notion of style"
After all, this is a book about language and meaning; it contains a large number of close readings, which depend implicitly on the quality of editorial control. This problem may be common to Routledge Classic editions. Colin Smith's translation of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge Classics): An Introduction is similarly unreadable. I wonder if these texts have been scanned from older editions. But even so, shouldn't there still be a copy-editing process?
I appreciate the effort Routledge has made to reprint a large number of valuable and interesting books at affordable prices, but there is little point in doing this if the texts are thereby rendered corrupt and less readable.
Another frustrating and disappointing purchase. If you're interested in the book, find another edition.
p. 4 "its owns" for "its own"
p. 14 "it was became" for "it was because"
p. 15 "war would be an acceptable synonym for must have been" for "was..."
p. 21 "I have, never felt" for "I have never felt"
p. 24 "when parsed would be awkward and jarring" for "when passed would be awkward and jarring"
p. 29 "Thus notion of style" for "This notion of style"
After all, this is a book about language and meaning; it contains a large number of close readings, which depend implicitly on the quality of editorial control. This problem may be common to Routledge Classic editions. Colin Smith's translation of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge Classics): An Introduction is similarly unreadable. I wonder if these texts have been scanned from older editions. But even so, shouldn't there still be a copy-editing process?
I appreciate the effort Routledge has made to reprint a large number of valuable and interesting books at affordable prices, but there is little point in doing this if the texts are thereby rendered corrupt and less readable.
Another frustrating and disappointing purchase. If you're interested in the book, find another edition.
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