The Nearest Thing to Life - Couverture rigide

Wood, James

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1611687411 ISBN 13 : 9781611687415

Editeur : Brandeis Univ, 2015

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In this remarkable blend of memoir and criticism, James Wood has written a master class on the connections between fiction and life. He argues that, of all the arts, fiction has a unique ability to describe the shape of our lives, and to rescue the texture of those lives from death and historical oblivion. The act of reading is understood here as the most sacred and personal of activities, and there are brilliant discussions of individual works – among others, Chekhov’s story ‘The Kiss’, W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants, and Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower.

Wood reveals his own intimate relationship with the written word: we see the development of a provincial boy growing up in a charged Christian environment, the secret joy of his childhood reading, the links he makes between reading and blasphemy, or between literature and music. The final section discusses fiction in the context of exile and homelessness. The Nearest Thing to Life is not simply a brief, tightly argued book by a man commonly regarded as our finest living critic – it is also an exhilarating personal account that reflects on, and embodies, the fruitful conspiracy between reader and writer (and critic), and asks us to re-consider everything that is at stake when we read and write fiction.

Revue de presse

"The Nearest Thing to Life...[proves] that whether in short form or long, printed or spoken word, Wood is a voice worth listening to." (Malcolm Forbes National)

"The Nearest Thing to Life is excellent: both insightful and sensible, a rare enough combination in criticism. Wood’s own noticings are as sharp as ever." (Theo Tait Sunday Times)

"Brief but fascinating discourse." (Max Liu Independent)

"[Has] an elegant lightness of touch... [A] slim, appealingly modest collection." (Matilda Bathurst Country Life)

"[A] short but lovely volume." (Laurence Scott Financial Times)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Brandeis Univ
• Date d'édition: 2015
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1611687411
• ISBN 13: 9781611687415
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 134
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible