The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to A.D. 100

The Norton Anthology of World Literature #A

by Sarah N. Lawall

In 1995, Norton changed the way world literature is taught by introducing The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Expanded Edition. Leading the field once again, Norton is proud to publish the anthology for the new century, The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Second Edition. Now published in 6 volumes (this volume, Volume A, covers "Beginnings to AD 100"), the new anthology boasts slimmer volumes, thicker paper, a bolder typeface, and dozens of newly included or newly translated works from around the world.

The Norton Anthology of World Literature represents continuity as well as change. Like its predecessor, the anthology is a compact library of world literature, offering an astounding forty-three complete longer works, more than fifty prose works, over one hundred lyric poems, and twenty-three plays. More portable, more suitable for period courses, more pleasant to read, and more attuned to current teaching and research trends, The Norton Anthology of World Literature remains the most authoritative, comprehensive, and teachable anthology for the world literature survey.

Genres: Fiction, Anthologies, Literature, Classics, Textbooks, Poetry, Classic Literature

1218 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Ardyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

1200 page anthology of world lit. Almost entirely excerpts, very few complete works.

Of the 1200 pages, nearly 700 are given to the ancient Greeks, 150 to Roman Empire and another 50 to King James Old Testament (although it is billed as "Hebrew" in the TOC... some of my Jewish friends would like a word). If my math is correct, that's 75% Euro classics content you probably own in full, or have excerpted in some other collection.

Hymns to Inanna by Enheduanna are missing completely... not great for a World Lit compilation given that she is the first author for whom we have a name. Unacceptable in a volume focusing specifically on ancient texts.

Some Chinese and Indian classics, but it's an awfully small percentage given how long those two cultures have been around and the scale of their influence even from a perspective of pure headcount.

Don't buy.

[Seabury · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was essentially a textbook for class at my college. This book presents an incredible selection, and everything has lots of historical value. However, a star is lost because the book cuts out a lot in order to cause everything to fit. In some instances, the cuts were actually welcome, such as the Illiad, which probably has over a hundred pages of pure bloodshed to slog through. However, the Aeneid was cut horribly, and I felt cheated after reading it. This book presents the Odyssey in full. Also included is gilgamesh, selections from Ovid's Metamorphoses, some poetry of catillus, lysistrata in full, and egyptian poetry, all of which are great reading. There is chinese and indian texts too, which I can't comment on since I didn't read them in class or on my own time. This selection is great, however perhaps it would be more worth ones time to invest in the full versions of the books, poems, stories, and plays included here.

[Lulu]

2nd edition (of 5)

Invention of writing and the earliest literatures:
Gilgamesh (Akkadian, ca. 2500-1500 B.C.);
Ancient Egyptian poetry (ca. 1500-ca. 1200 B.C.); The Bible, the Old Testament (Hebrew, ca. 1000-300 B.C.)

Ancient Greece and the formation of the Western mind:
Homer (eight century B.C.);
Sappho of Lesbos (born ca. 630 B.C.);
Aeschylus (524?-456 B.C.);
Sophocles (ca. 496-406 B.C.);
Euripides (480-406 B.C.);
Aristophanes (450?-385? B.C.);
Plato (429-347 B.C.);
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Poetry and thought in early China:
Classic of poetry (Chinese, ca. 1000-600 B.c.);
Confucius (551-479 B.C.);
Chuang Chou (ca. 369-286 B.C.);
Ssu-Ma Chien (ca. 145-ca. 85 B.C.)

India's Hoeric Age:
Ramayana of Valmiki (Sanskrit, ca. 550 B.C.);
Mahabharata (Sanskrit, ca. 400 B.C.-A.D. 400);
Jataka (Pali, fourth century B.C.);
Bhagavad-Gita (Sanskrit, first century B.C.);
Tamil anthologies (Tamil, ca. 100-250

Roman Empire:
Catullus (84?-54?B.C.);
Virgil (70-19 B.C.);
Ovid (43 B.C.-A.D. 17);
Petronius (died A.D. 66)

[Jack Wimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories great epics

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well after the start of the oral tradition began, the written tradition emerged and what was previously spoken was, hopefully, written down and saved. This anthology attempts to communicate, date, and translate some of the earliest literature known to mankind up until A.D. 100. It begins with Gilgamesh and ends with Petronius's Satyricon. It covers pieces from ancient Greece, China, India, and the Roman Empire. In this way, it details the spread of tradition, of themes, and of the foundations that these spaces of earth guaranteed would be passed down from these earliest of times to the more modern age.

Although the language is sometimes drab, the translators have done their very hardest to not only make the texts readable to a modern audience, but to also keep the poetry and syntactical prose of the past together. The editors have also provided extensive, but not by any means overwhelming, footnotes to help us to understand anything from names, to places, to historical accuracies. Great for an approaches to Literature course or for those of us that wish to recognize and adhere to traditions that have been passed down through words across the ages.

[Jean-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent anthology. Teaching and rereading the classics of Wold Literature has been a true joy. My students are finding the works astonishingly relevant to their lives today - in 21st century America. I thank Professor Chris Grooms for the recommendation. I'm impressed.