Read online The Oxford Book of English Love Stories (1996, Hardcover) by in DOC, EPUB, DJV
9780192142375 English 0192142372 Adulterous love, marital love, virginal love, religious devotion, agape, lust, eros: there are an infinite variety of meanings that can be packed into the four letters that spell love, and writers of fiction have been trying for centuries to plumb its depths. We turn to literature in large part to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers ofThe Oxford Book of English Love Storieswill find consolation and inspiration in equal measure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion. From the bittersweet ending of Trollope's ultra-Trollopian "The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne;" to the intricate rituals of courtship in Sylvia Plath's "Stone Boy with Dolphin;" to Paul Theroux's sardonic study of innocence in "An English Unofficial Rose," this collection is a looking glass into the many moods of love. Editor John Sutherland has searched two centuries of English literature to select twenty-eight wholly original works, choosing those that best represent the rich and varied nature of love itself. Readers will find stories by Mary Shelley, W. M. Thackeray, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, and many others, all of which explore the infinite varieties of love and its shifting rules. Indeed, the rules of the game of love tend to change with every new set of players and with each generation. In D.H. Lawrence's "Samson and Delilah," the game is violent and fraught with physical injury. In Katherine Mansfield's "Something Childish but very Natural," love is more reminiscent of two people playing chess blindfolded. And, in Joyce Cary's "The Tunnel," it seems that the lovers cannot, tantalizingly, even get themselves on to the same playing field. Bittersweet endings, ironic angles on traditional platitudes, and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Elizabeth Bowen, W. Somerset Maugham, or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes hilarious and often very moving,The Oxford Book ofEnglish Love Storiesbrings a delightful perspective to the mysteries of love., An anthology of 28 love stories, from the 17th century to the present day, presenting a panorama of views about love in the context of the changing attitudes of English society. The authors include Anthony Trollope, Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence, and Adam Mars-Jones., Love, so the song goes, is a many-splendoured thing, and fiction has been trying for years both to promote and subvert the cliches it encourages. We turn to literature to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers of this collection will find consolation and inspiration in equalmeasure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion. In tracing the lineaments of 'English love' through the fiction of 200 years we can see something of its infinite variety and of the shifting rules of the game. Sylvia Plath seems closer to Aphra Behn than to Elizabeth Gaskell or even Thomas Hardy in her concept of feminine modesty, while violence,or sheer incomprehension, enter the definition in the worlds of D. H. Lawrence and Katherine Mansfield. Romantic love is at the heart of the 'love story' and these stories, while taking love as their subject, do not always follow the conventional route. Bittersweet endings, ironic angles ontraditional platitudes and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Anne Ritchie, Somerset Maugham or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes comic and often very moving, these stories bring a delightful perspective to the mysteries of the Englishin love., This chronologically arranged anthology of 28 love stories, from the 17thcentury to the present day, presents a panorama of views about love in thecontext of the changing attitudes of English society. It features stories byauthors such as Anthony Trollope, Somerset Maughan, Virginia Woolf, D.H.Lawrence, and Adam Mars-Jones.
9780192142375 English 0192142372 Adulterous love, marital love, virginal love, religious devotion, agape, lust, eros: there are an infinite variety of meanings that can be packed into the four letters that spell love, and writers of fiction have been trying for centuries to plumb its depths. We turn to literature in large part to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers ofThe Oxford Book of English Love Storieswill find consolation and inspiration in equal measure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion. From the bittersweet ending of Trollope's ultra-Trollopian "The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne;" to the intricate rituals of courtship in Sylvia Plath's "Stone Boy with Dolphin;" to Paul Theroux's sardonic study of innocence in "An English Unofficial Rose," this collection is a looking glass into the many moods of love. Editor John Sutherland has searched two centuries of English literature to select twenty-eight wholly original works, choosing those that best represent the rich and varied nature of love itself. Readers will find stories by Mary Shelley, W. M. Thackeray, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, and many others, all of which explore the infinite varieties of love and its shifting rules. Indeed, the rules of the game of love tend to change with every new set of players and with each generation. In D.H. Lawrence's "Samson and Delilah," the game is violent and fraught with physical injury. In Katherine Mansfield's "Something Childish but very Natural," love is more reminiscent of two people playing chess blindfolded. And, in Joyce Cary's "The Tunnel," it seems that the lovers cannot, tantalizingly, even get themselves on to the same playing field. Bittersweet endings, ironic angles on traditional platitudes, and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Elizabeth Bowen, W. Somerset Maugham, or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes hilarious and often very moving,The Oxford Book ofEnglish Love Storiesbrings a delightful perspective to the mysteries of love., An anthology of 28 love stories, from the 17th century to the present day, presenting a panorama of views about love in the context of the changing attitudes of English society. The authors include Anthony Trollope, Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence, and Adam Mars-Jones., Love, so the song goes, is a many-splendoured thing, and fiction has been trying for years both to promote and subvert the cliches it encourages. We turn to literature to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers of this collection will find consolation and inspiration in equalmeasure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion. In tracing the lineaments of 'English love' through the fiction of 200 years we can see something of its infinite variety and of the shifting rules of the game. Sylvia Plath seems closer to Aphra Behn than to Elizabeth Gaskell or even Thomas Hardy in her concept of feminine modesty, while violence,or sheer incomprehension, enter the definition in the worlds of D. H. Lawrence and Katherine Mansfield. Romantic love is at the heart of the 'love story' and these stories, while taking love as their subject, do not always follow the conventional route. Bittersweet endings, ironic angles ontraditional platitudes and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Anne Ritchie, Somerset Maugham or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes comic and often very moving, these stories bring a delightful perspective to the mysteries of the Englishin love., This chronologically arranged anthology of 28 love stories, from the 17thcentury to the present day, presents a panorama of views about love in thecontext of the changing attitudes of English society. It features stories byauthors such as Anthony Trollope, Somerset Maughan, Virginia Woolf, D.H.Lawrence, and Adam Mars-Jones.