Reading the Novel in English 1950-2000;
"This is an excellent introductory study. The selection of texts is
intriguing. The volume is well-informed by criticism of the field and
Shaffer's close reading is exemplary. His interpretations cast fresh
light on some novels that have become canonical and therefore this study
is of great use to students generally and for those teaching them."
Philip Tew, University College Northampton; Director, UK Network for
Modern Fiction Studies
Written in clear, jargon-free prose, this introductory text charts the
variety of English-language novel writing in the second half of the
twentieth century. It focuses equally on British and Irish novelists,
and on Anglophone novelists from other countries (exclusive of the US).
The text provides students both with strategies for interpretation and
with fresh readings of ten influential novels. It maps out the most
important contexts and concepts for understanding the fiction of the
period, considering subjects such as the aftermath of literary modernism
and the end of the British Empire. Novels discussed in depth include
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of
the Day, and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
The author treats the English-language novel of this period as a
socially-engaged and exploratory genre, one that challenges and
stretches the prevailing canons of knowledge and literary representation
in its bid to depict and probe an evolving present.
