Modern English Literature

Modern English Literature

Experimental prose
James Joyce
Was born in Ireland
· The Dubliners – collection of short stories
· Ulysses
o It describes the ordinary day of a man from Dublin
o It’s written in completely new style – it’s breaking the rules of description, speech and punctuation
o This style is called “stream of consciousness”
o This style influenced many other writers
· Finnegan’s Wake – it’s difficult to read and understand
 
Virginia Woolf
She was born in suburb of London and she was educated at home. She was mentally ill, and she committed a suicide – she drowned herself.
She tried to understand and describe human characters from within, in order to capture the true nature of human consciousness.
· Mrs Dalloway – describes the life of Clarissa Dalloway
· To the Lighthouse – describes the Ramsay’s family
 
Dystopian fiction
George Orwell
His original name is Eric Arthur Blair. In his works he deals with social injustice, totalitarian regime and belief in democratic socialism.
· Animal Farm – allegorical novel, it reflects the rule of Stalin. The story is about animals, which gain control of manor farm, and they create their own animal society with the pigs as their leaders, but the rule of pigs is turning into totalitarian regime.
· Nineteen Eighty-Four – about Winston Smith, who lives in extremely totalitarian society, where everything, even the thoughts, are controlled by the Party.
 
Angry young men
It was a group of writers in 50s and 60s. They expressed the disillusionment and emptiness, they were angry with the establishment, they criticize snobs and powerful people. The name of the group is derived from Osborne’s play “Look back in Anger”.
 
Kingsley Amis
The most famous member of the group
· Lucky Jim – the story is about Jim Dixon, who becomes a lecturer on a small university. He tries to keep his post, but everything turns out wrong. He is dismissed, but he is happy with his girlfriend and he finds a new job.
 
William Golding
He won the Nobel Prize for literature, he participated in WW II and it influenced his works.
· Lord of the Flies – novel is set in the future, it shows his pessimistic view of human nature, it warning against another war
 
Detective stories
Agatha Christie
The most famous representative, she is known as Queen of Crime. She wrote 77 detective novels. She created the character of Hercule Poirot – little and smart Belgian detective and character of Miss Jane Marple (It’s possible that Miss Marple represents Agatha herself)
· Murder on the Orient Express, Death on Nile, Death in the clouds, The A.B.C. Murders
 
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
He was Scottish writer and also a doctor, he is famous for his stories about detective Sherlock Holmes.
· The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 
 
Fantasy
J. R. R. Tolkien
He is famous fantasy writer, poet, philologist and university professor.
His stories are based on old German and Celtic myths, he created a fantasy world of hobbits, elves, wizards.
· The Hobbit, or There or Back Again – fantasy novel for children. It’s about journey of Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who wants to gain a share of a treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug.
· The Lord of the Rings – epic fantasy trilogy, the three volumes are titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The main character is hobbit Frodo, whose quest is destroy powerful ring. The One Ring was created by Dark Lord Sauron, to rule other rings, in order to conquer and rule Middle-earth.
· Silmarillion – collection of his works and stories, it describes the history of Middle-Earth – the place where Hobbit and Lord of the Rings takes place
 
Joanne Kathleen Rowling
She is famous for series of seven fantasy novels about young wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. All of them are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story is about Harry’s fight with evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed his parents and he wants to conquer the world of wizards. The story has happy ending, Harry destroys Voldemort and sets wizards free.
· Harry Potter and the…
o Philosopher’s Stone
o Chamber of Secrets
o Prisoner of Azkaban
o Goblet of Fire
o Order of Phoenix
o Half-Blood Prince
o Deathly Hallows
 
Drama
John Osborne
· Look Back in Anger – the main character is Jimmy Porter, he rebels against hypocritical society, he expresses his disgust
 
Samuel Beckett
He won Nobel Prize, he’s important both for drama and prose
· Waiting for Godot – his famous play, 2 tramps are waiting for Godot, but no one seems to know who he is, or why are they waiting for him.
 
George Bernard Shaw
He was a playwright and prose-writer; he won the Nobel Prize for literature.
· Pygmalion – The story is about Mr. Higgins, who bets, that he can teach poor girl Eliza Doolittle to speak and pronounce like a lady, and he succeed. The musical My Fair Lady is based on this play.