en-US Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:14:51 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 16939 “Literary Theory has the kind of racy readability that one associates more often with English critics who have set their faces resolutely against theory. It’s not just a brilliant polemical essay; it’s also a remarkable feat of condensation, explication, and synthesis.�� —Sunday Times (London)
“A concise guide to the most interesting and mystifying trends in the study of literature over the last fifty years.�� —The Nation

This classic work covers all of the major movements in literary studies in this century. Noted for its clear, engaging style and unpretentious treatment, Literary Theory has become the introduction of choice for anyone interested in learning about the world of contemporary literary thought.]]> 248 Terry Eagleton 0631201882 Josh 5 literary-theory
Eagleton says he would prefer to call it the "Theory of Discourse" rather than "Literary Theory" -- it's really the theory of human speech, communication, discussion, and rhetoric, in all forms. As such, it includes thinkers who studied linguistics (Saussure), but also psychoanalysis as language (Lacan), discourse as a means of economic control (Marx), language as it pertains to sexual roles (Lacan, Kristeva), and so on. The selection still seems a bit arbitrary to me -- haven't there been interesting linguistic theories since Saussure? But I think this is a quirk of the field, not of the book.

Eagleton seems to present most authors fairly, as if he wants you to seriously consider that author's position. Then, amusingly enough, he will attempt to tear the author to shreds so he can go on to the next author. I didn't find his rants to be particularly profound or convincing. Thankfully he spends far more time illustrating each author's points than he spends beating them up.]]> 3.96 1983
author: Terry Eagleton
name: Josh
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at: 2009/02/17
date added: 2014/01/07
shelves: literary-theory
review:
I picked up this book expecting to learn a little bit about each major school of literary theory, and I wasn't disappointed. The book is a much easier read than some of the authors it references, and (I hope) may be useful in understanding those authors.

Eagleton says he would prefer to call it the "Theory of Discourse" rather than "Literary Theory" -- it's really the theory of human speech, communication, discussion, and rhetoric, in all forms. As such, it includes thinkers who studied linguistics (Saussure), but also psychoanalysis as language (Lacan), discourse as a means of economic control (Marx), language as it pertains to sexual roles (Lacan, Kristeva), and so on. The selection still seems a bit arbitrary to me -- haven't there been interesting linguistic theories since Saussure? But I think this is a quirk of the field, not of the book.

Eagleton seems to present most authors fairly, as if he wants you to seriously consider that author's position. Then, amusingly enough, he will attempt to tear the author to shreds so he can go on to the next author. I didn't find his rants to be particularly profound or convincing. Thankfully he spends far more time illustrating each author's points than he spends beating them up.
]]> 141152 461 �������ī�쾱 0520227034 Josh 5 4.19 -400
author: �������ī�쾱
name: Josh
average rating: 4.19
book published: -400
rating: 5
read at: 2005/08/01
date added: 2013/11/13
shelves:
review:
Some translations value accuracy and fidelity to the original text above all else. They work hard to preserve the meter and rhyme scheme (if any) and stay as close as possible to a word-for-word imitation, even if the result sounds a bit clumsy. I suspect that this book is not one of those translations. Buck is clearly a master storyteller in his own right, and his prose flows so well in English that it's hard to imagine he isn't taking some liberties. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good story. Others will have to say how accurate it is.
]]> 6934380 martyrdom were equally its products. A paradox of the Reformation--that it intensified intolerance while establishing pluralism--is one we still wrestle with today.]]> 176 Peter Marshall 0199231311 Josh 3 3.90 2003
author: Peter Marshall
name: Josh
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 332155 The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), Emile Durkheim sets himself the task of discovering the enduring source of human social identity. He investigates what he considered to be the simplest form of documented religion - totemism among the Aborigines of Australia. For Durkheim, studying Aboriginal religion was a way 'to yield an understanding of the religious nature of man, by showing us an essential and permanent aspect of humanity'. The need and capacity of men and women to relate to one another socially lies at the heart of Durkheim's exploration, in which religion embodies the beliefs that shape our moral universe.

The Elementary Forms has been applauded and debated by sociologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, philosophers, and theologians, and continues to speak to new generations about the intriguing origin and nature of religion and society. This new, lightly abridged edition provides an excellent introduction to Durkheim's ideas.]]> 416 Émile Durkheim 0192832557 Josh 5 3.93 1912
author: Émile Durkheim
name: Josh
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1912
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 11324722 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780307377906 can be found here.

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.
��
His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.]]> 419 Jonathan Haidt Josh 5 4.18 2012
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Josh
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 478 The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."

Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures--whether they be PTA, church, or political parties--have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe.

Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam's Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do.]]> 544 Robert D. Putnam 0743203046 Josh 5 3.84 2000
author: Robert D. Putnam
name: Josh
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 565764 David Halpern provides a guide through the many and sometimes confusing definitions of social capital. The various literatures examining the empirical consequences of social capital are brought together from across academic disciplines to demonstrate a remarkable range of effects. A model is then presented to account for the causal pathways that create social capital, and that lead from social capital to its outcomes. International evidence is used to establish whether social capital is on the decline, and the thorny question of whether social capital can harm or exclude is also examined. Finally, the policy implications are considered, including how social capital can be measured, created and utilized.
Social Capital offers an overview of one of the most important and exciting areas to emerge out of the social sciences in many years. It assumes no previous knowledge of the literature or statistics, and will be of interest to students and researchers in politics, sociology, social administration and social psychology and to the general reader interested in finding out more about how social capital affects all our lives.]]> 400 David Halpern 0745625487 Josh 4 Very thorough but a bit dry. 3.68 2004
author: David Halpern
name: Josh
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/02/15
shelves:
review:
Very thorough but a bit dry.
]]> 2744 God is dead. Meet the kids.

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep -- about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting... and a lot more dangerous.]]> 387 Neil Gaiman 0060515198 Josh 3 4.03 2005
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Josh
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2008/10/20
shelves:
review:

]]>