An exploration of the modern European novel from a renowned English
literature scholar
Reading the Modern European Novel since 1900 is an engaging, in-depth
examination of the evolution of the modern European novel. Written in
Daniel R. Schwarz's precise and highly readable style, this critical
study offers compelling discussions on a wide range of major works since
1900 and examines recurring themes within the context of significant
historical events, including both World Wars and the Holocaust. The
author cites important developments in the evolution of the modern novel
and explores how these paradigmatic works of fiction reflect
intellectual and cultural history, including developments in painting
and cinema. Schwarz focuses on narrative complexity, thematic subtlety,
and formal originality as well as how novels render historical events
and cultural developments Discussing major works by Proust, Camus, Mann,
Kafka, Grass, di Lampedusa, Bassani, Kertesz, Pamuk, Kundera, Saramago,
Muller and Ferrante, Schwarz explores how these often experimental
masterworks pay homage to the their major predecessors--discussed in
Schwarz's ground-breaking Reading the European Novel to 1900--even
while proposing radical departures from realism in their approach to
time and space, their testing the limits of language, and their
innovative ways of rendering the human psyche.
Written for teachers and students by a highly-acclaimed scholar and
including valuable study questions, Reading the Modern European Novel
since 1900 offers a guide for a deeper understanding of how these
original modern masters respond to both the past and present.
