Reading the Novel in English 1950 - 2000

Written in clear, jargon-free prose, this introductory text charts the variety of novel writing in English in the second half of the twentieth century. An engaging introduction to the English-language novel from 1950-2000 (exclusive of the US). Provides students both with strategies for interpretation and with fresh readings of selected seminal texts. Maps out the most important contexts and concepts for understanding this fiction. Features readings of ten influential English-language novels including Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Brian W. Shaffer is Professor of English and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development at Rhodes College, Memphis. He is the author of The Blinding Torch: Modern British Fiction and the Discourse of Civilization (1993) and Understanding Kazuo Ishiguro (1998). He is also the co-editor with Hunt Hawkins of Approaches to Teaching Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and “The Secret Sharer” (2002) and the editor of A Companion to the British and Irish Novel 1945-2000 (Blackwell, 2005).