Reviews for The Norton Anthology of World Literature: (Volumes D, E, F): 1650 to the Present

The average rating for The Norton Anthology of World Literature: (Volumes D, E, F): 1650 to the Present based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-13 00:00:00 Gregory S Karmel I am required by my department to teach from these anthologies, and I detest it. These anthologies would be fine for high school, but I resent not being trusted to select my own texts at the college level. More to the point of reviewing them: beware, young readers, beware! World Literature does not come from an anthology. Are we really to believe that on p.900 we can "read" a Native American chant? What are the problems inherent in selection? Let's include a few women, but not too many! A few non-Western authors, but not so many that this anthology won't sell to American readers! I guess what disturbs me most about teaching from these is that my students read the introductions, commentary, and footnotes to each work as the God's truth. In particular, I was disturbed by a footnote in Nawal El Saadawi's "In Camera" in which my students, many of whom have never encountered another Arab person let alone an Arab work of literature, were told by the Norton Anthology that a male character's thoughts could be explained "According to the Arab-Islamic code of honor, decreed and upheld by men." Thanks for the vague yet damaging generalization, Norton! This was just weird, given that there were no footnotes, say, explaining the internal thoughts of Joyce's servant characters according to the code of the Irish class system, or Virginia Woolf's thoughts according to the code of English misogyny. Any edited text (especially a text in translation) will always procure grumpy objections from people like me. But there is something particularly troubling about these anthologies in their sleekness, expense, and increasing ubiquity in college classrooms. Their increasing authority serves to disguise their deficiencies.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-07-29 00:00:00 Tj Black This was my father's book when he read literature at university. It was a great introduction to English Lit. Especially since I lived in a rural farming community and TV and radio reception was spotty. Mum and Dad would tell us stories from the book and read aloud many of the poems. It was a very important book to me. I used it when when I was at secondary school and university.