The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. F: The Twentieth Century & After

Norton Anthology of English Literature

by M.H. Abrams (Founding Editor), Stephen Greenblatt (General Editor), Jahan Ramazani

Firmly grounded by the hallmark strengths of all Norton Anthologies thorough and helpful introductory matter, judicious annotation, complete texts wherever possible The Norton Anthology of English Literature has been revitalized in this Eighth Edition through the collaboration between six new editors and six seasoned ones. Under the direction of Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor, the editors have reconsidered all aspects of the anthology to make it an even better teaching tool.

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

1200 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Meyer Howard Abrams is an American literary critic, known for works on Romanticism, in particular his book The Mirror and the Lamp. In a powerful contrast, Abrams shows that until the Romantics, literature was usually understood as a mirror, reflecting the real world, in some kind of mimesis; but for the Romantics, writing was more like a lamp: the light of the writer's inner soul spilled out to illuminate the world. Under Abrams' editorship, the Norton Anthology of English Literature became the standard text for undergraduate survey courses across the U.S. and a major trendsetter in literary canon formation.

Abrams was born in a Jewish family in Long Branch, New Jersey. The son of a house painter and the first in his family to go to college, he entered Harvard University as an undergraduate in 1930. He went into English because, he says, "there weren't jobs in any other profession, so I thought I might as well enjoy starving, instead of starving while doing something I didn't enjoy." After earning his baccalaureate in 1934, Abrams won a Henry fellowship to the University of Cambridge, where his tutor was I.A. Richards. He returned to Harvard for graduate school in 1935 and received his Masters' degree in 1937 and his PhD in 1940. During World War II, he served at the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory at Harvard. He describes his work as solving the problem of voice communications in a noisy military environment by establishing military codes that are highly audible and inventing selection tests for personnel who had a superior ability to recognize sound in a noisy background. In 1945 Abrams became a professor at Cornell University. As of March 4th, 2008, he was Class of 1916 Professor of English Emeritus there.

Reviews

[Paras2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll get back to ya for more info but ciao for now :))
BTW, footnotes on Waste Land are great 👌

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things read in this: (this is more for my own personal record keeping)
Loved
kind of eh about
No

Poetry
Down by the Salley Gardens by William Butler Yeats
The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats
September 1913 by William Butler Yeats (favorite)
Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot (favorite)
Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith (this one is probably my favorite out of anything)
Thoughts About the Person from Porlock by Stevie Smith
Pretty by Stevie Smith
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
A Far Cry From Africa by Derek Walcott
Marked With D. by Tony Harrison
Out by Ted Hughes
Digging by Seamus Heaney
The Forge by Seamus Heaney
Punishment by Seamus Heaney
Casualty by Seamus Heaney
The Skunk by Seamus Heaney

Short Stories
The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf
Araby by James Joyce
I was supposed to read Ulysses, but that didn't really happen.

I still have a lot to read in that book, but all of the above is what I had to read for class (with the exception of Stevie Smith, I read her on my own and loved it). Basically this gave me a newfound love for poetry. I really enjoyed reading Yeats and Smith, and want to get my hands on more of their stuff. 'The Dead' by Joyce is in this book and I would like to read that when I have time.

I'd like more time to go through it, but overall, it has some good selections in there.

[David]

I was amused to discover more typos in this final volume. It seemed as though the editors found it tougher the closer they got to the end of over 7000 pages. again, there may be some unnecessary annotations--especially in situations in which a word is defined in the introduction to a text and then defined again when it appears in the text itself. I wish I could say that I was surprised by the fact that most of the new authors I discovered were not white; not my education, but even my adult experience has been geared towards the pale. it has been my experience for about a decade now, the new writers in whom I'm really interested are also almost entirely female.

So, I read the whole 7307 pages between 6 April and 29 September. An interesting experience.

[Sara Shupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ mostly.
Phew! Made it through hundreds of years of English literature. I always have a harder time with the more contemporary texts. Still some very good exposure to a broader definition of English literature. I really appreciated seeing literature included from authors across the commonwealth.

[Rachel Earling-Hopson (Misse Mouse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology of 20th-century writing. If you are not a fan of poetry, this book may not for you. It is a great book for poetry lovers and reading this really piqued my interest to learn about these amazing authors. A great read. I will keep going back to more essays as well.

[Joshua]

Skimmed this one.

[Autumn Lytle · Rating 1 out of 5]

For all intents and purposes, I’m done with this one. It was bad. Like I don’t think I got one story out of it that we read that I really enjoyed. I’m just not the biggest fan of contemporary British literature.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology has many different authors which I had never previously heard of before. I feel this anthology is harder to bring together since some of these authors are still currently developing their works and their lasting impact is harder to foresee. Some of my favorite authors in this collection are Thomas Hardy, A. E. Housman, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Stevie Smith, W. H. Auden, Harold Pinter, Carol Ann Duffy, Tom Stoppard, Margaret Atwood, and Hanif Kureishi.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff. Has a lot of good modern artists and what the heck is going on with art these days.

[Ly Casnocha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work by Stephen Greenblatt seemed to be comprehensive by covering the literature of Great Britain in the 20th century. It was quite detailed with a collection of stories and literary narratives. These collections did not only depict multi-faceted protagonists placed in complex contexts, but also reflected the contemporary societies with a number of problems. Greenblatt made efforts in compiling this collection. Overall, I think this is worth reading and it is able to leave impression on the audience concerned about writing with quality.

[SullyIsReading]

(THIS REVIEW IS ORIGINALLY FROM STORYGRAPH, FROM 27TH NOVEMBER 2022.)

Length read: 66 pages.

I originally bought this anthology for a university course, however I switched off that course and now have it to read in my own time. I already have plenty to read, but I do plan to return to it someday, I think it is a genuine trove of fascinating stories. I primarily read Heart of Darkness, please check my review for that book through my profile.

[Edie Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

We only used this two or three times in class, but assuming it's as good as the other norton anthologies of english literature, it deserves all four stars.

[alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a joy it is to read authors that are still alive

[Bethany bookin-it]

Am I logging this just to meet my yearly goal?

…

Maybe




Is it even the right edition?

No.

[Brodie Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for class, but genuinely I enjoyed some of the stories such as Mrs Dalloway and some of the poetry.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series of textbooks. Each section has a clear, concise introduction to different aspects of that theme. It provides brief, informative biographies on each author. It includes a wide variety of authors and poets to choose from. There is no way you could cover everything in this book in one semester. It has wonderful footnotes to help clarify archaic words and phrases as well. All this is presented without any kind of opinion or critique, leaving the passages open for debate or personal interpretation. I really enjoyed it.(

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love. Love for the Norton Anthologies. And I'm a 20th and 21st century scholar, so this anthology can come play in my sandbox anytime.

One thing I'm not 100% pleased with (though I understand the reason for this) is that there's relatively little postmodern lit. Don't misunderstand, I'm not unhappy that there's so much postcolonial lit in the post-WWII section, but I want to see more postmodernism alongside it. That being said, Stoppard's Arcadia is an amazing play and I love that it's included in this volume.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet to read the whole thing but I did read Dora by Freud. Not that I follow him but...this particular book speaks to writing when in a state of hysteria. The patient apparently stopped talking. Although I havent stopped talking, I did start writing. So if you guys are curious you might want to check this one out.

[Hope Shutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read: "Introduction to the 20th Century and After", "The Other Boat", "Modern Fiction", "Odour of Chrysanthemums", "The Prophet's Hair", "Except from Enduring Love", "Songs to Joannes", "Among School Children", "Journey of the Magi", "Musee des Beaux Arts", "Digging", "The Lost Land", "Mrs. Lazarus"

[Ijorabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes a wide variety of prose, poetry, and history. An excellent introduction to English literature.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in a series of anthologies taught in Brit Lit at Alma.

[jessica]

For a class I am teaching this spring: Lit 3001 at U of M Crookston

[Deborah Burkhammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read some of the literature for my class on the Birth of the Modern Age

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for my Modern British Literature class. Lots of good readings in here.

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, read for university.

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

En rigtig god kilde ifb. med et semesterfag på engelskstudiet.

- Brugt på universitetet (engelsk)

[Sydney ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read some stuff from this for class. Not a fan really of the selections we had to read but you win some you lose some.

[Mills College Library]

820.8 N882 2018

[Ciara (Lost at Midnight)]

Only read certain texts for school but enjoyed most if not all of them!