7. Work in small groups. Read the following quotes about literature. Express you own opinions and attitudes. Compare your ideas as a group.

1. The decline in literature indicates the decline in nation. The two keep pace in their downward tendency (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe). 2. In the electronic age, books, words and reading are not likely to remain sufficiently authoritative and central to knowledge to justify literature (Alvin Kernan). 3. Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart (Salman Rushdie). 4. Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds it to its purpose. The nineteenth century, as we know it, is largely an invention of Balzac (Oscar Wilde).

8. a) Read the following extract and observe the way literary criticism is written:

Jane Austen saw life in a clear, dry light. She was not with­out deep human sympathies, but she had a quick eye for vani­ty, selfishness, but vulgarity, and she perceived the frequent in­congruities between the way people talked and the realities of a situation. Her style is quiet and level. She never exaggerates, she never as it were, raises her voice to shout or scream. She is neither pompous, nor sentimental, nor flippant, but always gravely polite, and her writing contains a delicate but sharp-edged irony.

L.P. Hartley is one of the most distinguished of modern novelists; and one of the most original. For the world of his cre­ation is composed of such diverse elements. On the one hand he is a keen and accurate observer of the process of human thought and feeling; he is also a sharp-eyed chronicler of the social scene. But his picture of both is transformed by the light of a Gothic, imagination that reveals itself now in fanciful rever­ie, now in the mingled dark and gleam of a mysterious light and a mysterious darkness... Such is the vision of life presented in his novels.

Martin Amis is the most important novelist of his genera­tion and probably the most influential prose stylist in Britain to­day. The son of Kingsley Amis, considered Britain's best novel­ist of the 1950s, at the age of 24 Martin won the Somerset Maugham Award for his first novel The Rachel Papers (his father had won the same prize 20 years earlier). Since 1973 he has published seven more novels, plus three books of journal­ism and one of short stories. Each work has been well received, in particular Money (1984), which was described as “a key novel of the decade.” His latest book is The Information (1995). It has been said of Amis that he has enjoyed a career more like that of a pop star than a writer.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco: “A brilliantly conceived adventure into another time, an intelligent and complex novel, a lively and well-plotted mystery” (San Francisco Chronicle).

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: “A smashing literary tour de force and an utterly invigorating experience. If this book does not make you jump up from the sofa, looking at life and literature in new ways, check to see if you have a pulse” (USA Today), “An exquisitively written, kaleidoscopic work that anchors a floating postmodern world on premodern caissons of love, grief, and transcendent longing” (Los Angeles Times).

The Partner by John Grisham: “All the ingredients of suspense, drama and meticulous attention to detail that have made Grisham’s novels bestsellers… A terrific read!” (Sunday mirror), “A narrative triumph and a stylish joy, this novel has me gasping for more of the new, satirical Grisham” (Daily Telegraph).

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, five Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards, the renowned writer Ursula K. Le Guin has, in each story and novel, created a provocative, ever-evolving unverse filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthy selves. Now, in The Birthday of the World, this gifted artist returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity.

b) Imagine you are working as a literary critic for a newspaper or a magazine. Pick up your favourite book and try your hand at writing a short annotation giving criticism to the author and the book.

8. Read an article by Nicholas Conley and answer the following questions:

1. What does the author mean saying ‘goals are driven by a mysterious voice’? 2. Are writers well paid? 3. What are the relationship between writer and reader? 4. Do writers really keep his / her era alive for future generations? Can you name such in the literature of your country? 5. The author compares writers to teachers. What lessons to they teach the read? 6. What does writer’s exciting come from?