Reading the modern British and Irish novel, 1890-1930 - Daniel R Schwarz

Daniel R. Schwarz has studied and taught the modern British novel for decades and now brings his impressive erudition and critical acuity to bear in this insightful study of the major authors and novels of the first half of the twentieth century. After a compelling introduction outlining his method and a substantial first chapter establishing the intellectual, cultural and literary contexts in which the modern British novel was produced, Schwarz turns to close reading of modernist masterworks. He shows how Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, Lawrence's Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow, Joyce's Dubliners and Ulysses, Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse and Forster's A Passage to India form essential components in a modernist cultural tradition which includes the visual arts.Without lapsing into jargon, Schwarz's work takes account of recent developments in theory and cultural studies. His persuasive study will not only be invaluable to students and teachers, but will also be of interest to the general reader.