The Things That Matter
Subtitle: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: August 15, 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780375424083
Description: This book is an illuminating exploration of how seven of the greatest English novels of the 19th and 20th centuries -- Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Between the Acts -- portray the essential experiences of life. For Edward Mendelson, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, these classic novels tell life stories that are valuable to readers who are thinking about the course of their own lives. Looking beyond theories to the individual intentions of the authors and taking into consideration their lives and times, Mendelson examines the sometimes contradictory ways in which the novels portray such major passages of life as love, marriage, and parenthood. In Frankenstein's story of a new life, we see a searing representation of emotional neglect. In Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre the transition from childhood to adulthood is portrayed in vastly different ways even though the sisters who wrote the books shared the same isolated life. In Mrs. Dalloway we see an ideal and almost impossible adult love. Mendelson leads us to a fresh and fascinating new understanding of each of the seven novels, reminding us in the most captivating way why they matter. - Jacket flap.

An exploration of how seven of the greatest English novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries portray the essential experiences of life. For Mendelson--a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University--these classic novels tell life stories that are valuable to readers who are thinking about the course of their own lives. Looking beyond theories to the individual intentions of the authors and taking into consideration their lives and times, Mendelson examines the sometimes contradictory ways in which the novels portray such major passages of life as love, marriage, and parenthood.--From publisher description.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Birth : Frankenstein; title: Childhood : Wuthering Heights; title: Growth : Jane Eyre; title: Marriage : Middlemarch; title: Love : Mrs. Dalloway; title: Parenthood : To the Lighthouse; title: The future : Between the Acts; title: Notes on the novelists; title: Further reading