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This book offers a comprehensive analysis of young Proust's evolving conception of the world, from his early friendships and educational experiences in the 1880s to the turn of the twentieth century. It looks in detail at his early fictional and critical writings, his associations with various literary periodicals, and the social milieus in which he moved. Its primary purpose is to understand Proust as a worldly figure with concrete attitudes and ideas about such issues as social class, the relationship between art and society, the responsibilities of the writer, and the debate between materialism and idealism as seen in the context of mid- to late-nineteenth-century thought. ... Read more

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Good Study of What Works
Although I don't agree that every story analyzed in this book is great, I did find the commentary to be helpful. It has been said many times over that if you want to write good fiction, you need to read good fiction. However, this won't work if you don't analyze what you read as well. This book walks you through the process, providing sage advice from and excellent writer (Asimov) and world-class editor (Greenberg). ... Read more

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Not everyone has access to a good critique group. If you're on your own and need someone to help polish your manuscript so it shines in the eyes of agents and editors, look no farther. Using examples from their own work and a huge dash of humor, veteran authors Jane Toombs and Janet Lane Walters guide both the new writer and the experienced through the labyrinth of self-editing. ... Read more

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Becoming Your Own Critique Partner
Trying to critique your own writing is extremely difficult. Often, we as writers are far too close to work to really see all those little errors missed that if corrected could turn a rejection slip into a contract. Most writers quickly learn that finding a friend or writing group who is willing to read and comment on their work is invaluable.

Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is aimed at those writers who for whatever reason can't find someone else to critique their novel. I personally believe that this book will be equally valuable to all writers. Filling in potholes and finding extraneous distractions in your storyline will be beneficial whether you have a critique partner or not. The end result can be the difference between a publishable book and an unfulfilled wish.

I definitely recommend Becoming Your Own Critique Partner to anyone hoping to publish their novel. This book cover all the bases: character building, dialogue that adds to the storyline, creating meaningful scenes, choosing the correct mood, and avoiding repetition, clichés, and other misnomers. Plus, each section includes checklist and a variety of exercises to help build writing skills while critiquing your own work.

Becoming Your Oown Critique Parner
If you follow the directions and advice in this book, your writing should improve.It will help you in learning how to rid your manuscript of all those little errors that editors hate, as it walks you through the process of critiquing your own manuscript.There's a lot of information in here that has helped me with my own writing. If you don't have access to a critique group or want to do the job yourself, get this book and read it.
I would recommend that every writer have it in their reference library.

An Excellent and Indispensable Tool For All Writers
Checking out the Internet as well as various other sources I notice there is a great deal of excellent advice on writing techniques. Unfortunately, many aspiring writers as well as experienced ones either neglect the advice or are unaware of its existence.
There are also local critique groups and countless workshops, seminars, and other avenues where writers can learn how to improve their writing skills, however often it is not convenient for one reason or another to participate in these tutorials.
Authors Jane Toombs and Janet Lane Walters have combined their 63 years of writing experience and knowledge to come up with a practical solution to help us become our own critique partner with their 236 page manual, Becoming Your Own Critique Partner, particularly when participation in a critique group is either impossible or impractical.

The primary focus of the book is, as the authors mention in their introduction, "to find the flaws in your manuscript and correct them."The most obvious flaws that are examined and explored are telling too much and not showing, weak and flat dialogue, the black moment when the focus character (villain or hero) in the story believes all is lost, scenes and their relevance, where to use adjectives and adverbs, finding ways to use the appropriate senses, pacing, effectively using points of view, plugging holes in your plot, cutting the fat from the bone, avoiding clichés, what not to do with the details, places where mood in the story affects your characters, finding your theme and using it to solidify your plot, spotting awkward time and place shifts, characters and their motivation, ways to keep the heart in your writing, questions writers should ask themselves about minor but pertinent errors, and the proper use of words that are not annoying.

The chapters of the book are knitted together into a cohesive whole in the form of a workshop-style. Each concludes with a checklist and useful exercises that help the reader reinforce the principles that are expounded upon. There are numerous examples taken from the authors' own published works illustrating the wrong and right ways of writing as well as the various stumbling points to keep you from being led astray.

Although Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is not meant to be the last word on the technique of good writing, it is nevertheless an excellent and indispensable tool for writers seeking to improve their skills. No doubt this book will prove to be a valuable addition to any writer's personal collection.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures

Mayra Calvani--Midwest Book Review
This new book on self-editing written by two very prolific authors is one you'll definitely want to add to your bookshelf.

What are the major problems you should be on the lookout for when editing your own work? The answer isn't always easy, as authors tend to become so involved in their plot and characters they turn blind to the obvious. Sometimes the problems are easy to spot and fix, sometimes not. Whatever the case, Walters and Toombs guide you through the process of completely editing your fiction manuscript.

With specific examples taken from their own works, the authors demonstrate how to handle telling instead of showing, stilted and flat dialogue, weak and unrealistic characters, unnecessary scenes, overuse of adjectives and adverbs, lack of atmosphere, point of view shifts, bloated prose, clichés, among others. They also share the secret to strong characters and the six necessary elements to a master plot. Each chapter concentrates on a specific subject, with helpful exercises at the end of it.

Written in a clear, friendly, straight-forward style, Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is a reference book that both beginners and professionals will profit from.
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In this book, Bruce Horner provides a cultural materialist critique of discourse on work in composition. Each chapter traces the ways in which one of the defining terms of composition--work, students, politics, academic, traditional, and writing--operates as a site for competing constructions of composition's identity. ... Read more

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Ricci's book ranges widely over Calvino's oeuvre to illustrate the accuracy of the idea articulated by Calvino himself that a visual image lies at the origin of all his narrative.The book's main theme is the difficult interface between word and image that Calvino struggled with throughout his career, the act of perception that rendered visible that which was invisible and transformed what was seen into what is read.Ricci holds that Calvino's narrative has an 'imagocentric' program and that his literary strategy is 'ekphrastic' i.e. it is characterized by literary description of visual representation, real or imaginary.The book is interdisciplinary in nature and will interest not only scholars of literature but also those who work with the visual arts and with information technology.

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An invaluable, 119-page tool to those writers who are in search of peer feedback and self-improvement
How To Start And Run A Writers' Critique Group by Carol J. Amato offers accessible and practical answers to the questions and problems that beset beginning, intermediate, and experienced writers who could benefit from the critiques, observations and advice of their peers in a small group setting, but don't have ready access to one. It gives helpful organizational suggestions and information to anyone hoping to start a writers' critique group. In so doing, such groups offers the chance for writers from novice beginners to seasoned professionals to improve their skills and writing through a voluntary professional association with others engaged in writing for fun or profit. The benefits of carefully planning such a group are multiple and easily accessible to the aspiring writers, including particular attention to the issues of critiquing manuscripts, dealing with difficult members, formal organization steps, sponsoring related events, and getting publicity. There is a very handy appendix with sample forms, including suggested critique group rules (small or large groups), a critique group checklist, and corporation bylaws. In sum, How To Start And Run A Writers' Critique Group is an invaluable, 119-page tool to those writers (regardless of their preferred genre) who are in search of peer feedback and self-improvement in the execution of their chosen craft.
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From a Speaking Place brings together 63 essays, notes, and interviews from 50 years of contributions to Canadian Literature, CanadaÂ’s foremost journal on the countryÂ’s writers and writing. YouÂ’ll find here such stylish writers as Margaret Atwood, Grard Bessette, George Bowering, George Elliott Clarke, Wayde Compton, Basil Johnston, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Thomas King, Margaret Laurence, George Ryga, Andreas Schroeder, Audrey Thomas, Tom Wayman, Rudy Wiebe, and George Woodcock. From a Speaking Place invites you into a conversation about what it means to be a reader and a writer in Canada. This Canada speaks: of Inuit voices and Al PurdyÂ’s rock gothic, of Bombay and Trinidad, of great traditions, urban findings, laughter, Acadia, nation, translation, theatre, exploration, life stories and more, from official languages and le monologue qubcois to Marshall McLuhan and Hollywood Not. Illustrated by George KuthanÂ’s woodcuts, the book celebrates Canadian LiteratureÂ’s 50th anniversary in 2009.

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Daniel Defoe was one of the most important and best-known writers of the eighteenth century but there is a feeling among scholars that the Defoe 'canon' is a remarkably strange and not very satisfactory construction. Between 1790, when the first bibliography of Defoe appeared, and 1971, when J.R. Moore published the second edition of his Checklist, the canon had swollen from just over a hundred items to 570. A large proportion of these attributions had been made in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, on the basis of features of style, 'favourite phrases' and resemblance to Defoe's known views. This book is a list of all the items in Moore's Checklist (the current authority on the Defoe canon) that at present the authors consider questionable with in each case a note as to who was the first attributer, a brief synopsis and an explanation of the reasons for doubting the ascription.
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Margaret Laurence is justly famous for her Manawaka cycle of Canadian novels, but her work extends from Canada to Africa and includes poetry and prose, children's and adult literature, memoir and travel-writing. Whereas previous studies focus on certain aspects of her work, "Divining Margaret Laurence" addresses all her important writings, including a final, unfinished manuscript - "Dance on the Earth: A Memoir". This comprehensive study of her writings, including archival material, allows Nora Stovel to trace the development of Laurence's Canadian identity, feminist sympathies, moral vision, and creative artistry. Twenty years after her death Margaret Laurence remains one of Canada's most esteemed and beloved writers. This new critical assessment of her work is not only a testament to her literary achievement but also a valuable contribution to Canadian, African, women's, children's, travel, and fiction writing. ... Read more

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An apocalyptic vision of planetary self-destruction provided the context for many late twentieth-century narratives. Women writers from Quebec and English Canada, including Margaret Atwood, Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska, Madeleine Gagnon, Betsy Warland, Marie-Claire Blais, and Nicole Brossard, redefined their relationship to time and narrative in order to tell a different, perhaps more hopeful, story. Using "archaeology" as a trope and a methodology, Karen McPherson's "critical excavations" of these women's writings pose questions about loss and mourning, survival and witnessing, devastation and writing, remembering and imagining. In "Archaeologies of an Uncertain Future", McPherson explores the memory work, alternative historiographies, and feminist aesthetics by which women writers revisit the past and re-imagine the future. Grounded within critical discourses across many disciplines, McPherson's analysis engages contemporary discussions about autobiographical genres, post-modern historiographies, memoirs, and literary genealogies. ... Read more

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This volume, which collects Northrop Frye's writings on the theory of literary criticism from the middle period of his career, includes one of Frye's own favourites, The Critical Path (1971). A highly important marker of Frye's career, The Critical Path openly addresses topics that he had previously been reluctant to discuss as fully, including the importance of literature to society, the responsibilities of critics, and the deeper rationales for studying literature.

Filled with insightful texts that indicate his transition from literary critic to a theorist of language, myth, and human culture, this edition helps to illuminate many of the ideas and arguments that would appear later in The Great Code and Words with Power. Accompanied by the rigorous scholarship for which the series is renowned, this is another valuable contribution to literary criticism and theory.

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The six perfections (paramitas), namely: giving charity, upholding the precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and prajna-wisdom are often thought of as part of the Mahayana Buddhism's bodhisattva path. The word paramita in Sanskrit means to cross over ; the implication is that by practicing these perfections, one can cross over from Samsara (the world of birth, death, and suffering) to Nirvana (the ultimate bliss).

Venerable Master Hsing Yun writes, These six perfections will benefit not only others but the one who practices them as well. They are for the liberation of others and also for oneself; they belong to others and oneself. ... Read more

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The tragic death of Wilson Duff at the age of 51, cut short the life of one of the leading experts on the arts and cultures of native peoples of the Northwest Coast. An anthropology professor at the University of B.C., his death, by his own hand, terminated his uncommonly perceptive research into the philosophy and psychology of Native art. Bird of Paradox consists of unpublished works by Duff which present his unique theoretical ideas that contribute to art scholarship, as well as creative writings and poetry which expose his emotional experiences with and feelings toward Native art and culture. Editor E. N. Anderson has provided detailed introductory material recounting Duff's life and work, and puts Duff's final contributions in the context of Northwest coast life. ... Read more

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Postcolonial and Commonwealth literary scholarship has tended to emphasize the novel. "Tropes and Territories" is the first book to focus on modern short fiction, including Metis narratives, Maori myth, and stories by Mansfield, Frame, Munro, Rushdie, MacLeod, Gallant, Narayan, Jarman, and King. While Canadian writers and writings are central, contributors also consider South Pacific, South Asian, and Caribbean stories. "Tropes and Territories" demonstrates how current debates in postcolonial criticism bear on the reading, writing, and status of short fiction. These debates, which hinge on competing definitions of "trope" (motif vs rhetorical turn) and "territory" (political or aesthetic), lead to studies of space, place, influence, and writing and reading practices across cultural divides. The essays also explore the character of diasporic writing, the cultural significance of oral tale-telling, and interconnections between socio/political issues and strategies of style. ... Read more

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Alan Lomax is a legendary figure in American folk music circles. Although he published many books, hundreds of recordings and dozens of films, his contributions to popular and academic journals have never been collected. This collection of writings, introduced by Lomax's daughter Anna, reintroduces these essential writings. Drawing on the Lomax Archives in New York, this book brings together articles from the 30s onwards. It is divided into four sections, each capturing a distinct period in the development of Lomax's life and career: the original years as a collector and promoter; the period from 1950-58 when Lomax was recording thorughout Europe; the folk music revival years; and finally his work in academia. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Modern Humanities Research Association on October 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1133 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Critique du vers.(Book Review)
Author: Roger Pensom
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2002
Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
Volume: 97Issue: 4Page: 993-994

Article Type: Book Review

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