Best Literary Criticism
Best Modern Literary Criticism
"On what slender threads do life and fortune hang" Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. Robin Buss (1939–2006) was a writer and translator who worked for the Independent on Sunday and as television critic for the Times Educational Supplement .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Material previously omitted by Victorian-era translators such as Franz' hashish-fueled sexual fantasies and the strongly implied lesbian relationship between Eugenie and Louise remain intact and uncensored. As another reviewer pointed out, Buss will provide footnotes to explain subtleties that aren't easily translated from French to English, such as insults delivered by using the formal you (vous) rather than the informal/friendly/intimate you (tu). A detailed appendix provides valuable historical and cultural context that aids the reader in understanding Dumas' masterpiece, and includes a primer on the rise, fall, return, and final downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte that is crucial to making sense of the politics driving the novel's plot."
"My husband ranks it up there as one of his top favorite movies, but aside from the brief sword fight and “Can we come up?” scene in V for Vendetta, I really had no reference point–I thought it was all about dueling. When I read The Black Count, though, and found out why Alexandre Dumas wrote CoMC–I knew I had to move it up the list. I found the characterization ridiculous and irregularly detailed, and I didn’t understand why we couldn’t just get to the point and action. Also, I learned in The Black Count that one of the most important things in the world to Dumas was never to forget a person, the way he felt his father was forgotten."
"The book does a great job of portraying the setting and the characters, to a point that it felt more like reading a description of a landscape painting."
Best 18th Century Literary Criticism
A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. Alice Wakely completed a doctoral dissertation on Samuel Richardson at Magdalen College, Oxford, and is currently at the University of York. His books include Richardson's Clarissa and the 18th Century Reader (1992), Sterne, the Moderns, and the Novel (2002), and co-edited with John Mee, The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1740-1830 (2004).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The History of Tom Jones: a foundling by Henry Fielding (Novel-Audible/E Book-Fiction) 5* I read along with the Audible of the novel which I found a highly delightful and entertaining experience."
"An impatient reader might be tempted to skip these, but that would mean missing a lot of worthwhile and enjoyable reading. The biggest problem is that the excellent notes often have a reference to another note, with the page number, e.g., a note might be only "See note on page 85." However, there is never a link to these earlier notes, and when reading a Kindle, finding the note on page 85 is not an easy matter."
"I started reading this book in version which included artistic illustrations."
"Excellent edition of this timeless classic, which I decided to re-read (after four decades) when I learned that Trollope considered it possibly the greatest English novel (up to his time, of course)."
"The writing is a bit hard to follow sometimes."
"Long but must-read example of early English literature."
"I never got bored, it was a bit hard to read being the way it was written from that time period but the handy dictionary took care of that."
"Tom Jones is one of the first novels ever and is considered to be one of the three most perfectly planned plots ever written."
Best European Literary History & Criticism
"On what slender threads do life and fortune hang" Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. "Dumas was... a summit of art.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Material previously omitted by Victorian-era translators such as Franz' hashish-fueled sexual fantasies and the strongly implied lesbian relationship between Eugenie and Louise remain intact and uncensored. As another reviewer pointed out, Buss will provide footnotes to explain subtleties that aren't easily translated from French to English, such as insults delivered by using the formal you (vous) rather than the informal/friendly/intimate you (tu). A detailed appendix provides valuable historical and cultural context that aids the reader in understanding Dumas' masterpiece, and includes a primer on the rise, fall, return, and final downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte that is crucial to making sense of the politics driving the novel's plot."
"The story is amazing!"
"On top of the marvellous novel, I had the pleasure of listening to Bill Homewood's exemplary narration, which is superb due his perfect mastery of pronunciation, pace, pausing and variation of voice."
"Edmond Dantes returns from a job at sea at age 19 to the promise of a beautiful bride and captainship of the vessel the next time it sails, only to have others send anonymous allegations about him to the crown prosecutor, who has his own reasons for Dantes to disappear. Dumas' literary references and some points of geography, politics, and monetary denominations and their relationships went past me, but those modest issues aside, I found it a truly special read for both its writing (in the Penguin Classics modern translation - easier to follow than older translations) and a story line that keeps the reader completely engaged."