Useful Vocabulary to Speak about Books and Authors

1. Authors (writers, poets, critics, essayists, pamphleteers, novelists, playwrights):	famous/outstanding/talented/brilliant; promising; contemporary; the author’s background; literary activity, literary career; to be a success ≠ to be a failure, to gain/win recognition; to try one’s hand at drama ( a play, a short story); to be at work on; to be at the height of one’s popularity.
2. Aspects of a story:	subject, theme; ideas, views, attitudes; plot (setting, exposition, conflict, climax, outcome); character (main/principle/central ≠ minor; positive ≠ negative; typical; imaginary)/hero/literary type/figure/image; to draw/portray/depict a character; to give a character sketch of; language, style (good ≠ poor; graceful ≠ ungraceful; easy ≠ heavy, clumsy; polished ≠ crude; brief ≠ wordy, verbose; vivid ≠ dull; lively ≠ monotonous); spirit, atmosphere.
3. Types of books:	modern, historical, war, adventure, psychological, detective novel; short story; love story; novelette; tale, fairy tale, folk tale; romance; thriller; fable; fantasy; fiction ≠ non-fiction; science-fiction (sci-fie); biography; autobiography; life story; memoirs; classic(al); with subtle irony; sparkling humour; happy, tragic, unexpected ending.
good, interesting, enjoyable, entertaining, fascinating, brilliant, original, unusual, amusing, funny, witty, imaginative, exciting, powerful, convincing, true-to-life, complex, profound, well-written, easy to read	dull/boring, uninspiring, slow-moving, lacking in originality (or action), superficial, pretentious, unconvincing, heavy-going, depressing

Phrases for Rendering

1. The author reveals the drawbacks (demerits) of …; preaches a humane (altruistic, considerate, merciful, etc.) attitude to …; mocks at; criticizes; ridicules; makes a laughing stock of; idealizes; glorifies; declares; proclaims; wants to make us: think, meditate on, ponder over, feel ashamed for smb./sth.; arouses in us a feeling of (guilt, regret, remorse, sympathy, etc.); expresses some interesting ideas about/on (family life).

2. The author is sure (unlikely, likely) to make us reconsider our attitude to, look inside ourselves, reveal the inner motives of, take sides with, take up a firm attitude, not to jump at conclusions, etc.

3. The idea of (individual responsibility) is introduced right at the beginning and developed throughout the book. The idea of (racial equality) is never explicitly stated/expressed, but it is implicit in all his works.

4. The author raises; deals with; dwells on; touches upon the problem of …

5. The story entitled (headlined) … is about …

The subject matter of the story is sentimental, tragic, banal, romantic, dramatic, etc.

6. The scene is laid; the setting of the story is; the action takes place; the events unfold, the plot runs as follows; the plot centers on the fate (relations, behavior), round the events; the plot unfolds this way.

7. The author creates/evokes an atmosphere of (mystery and suspense) from the very first page. The light-hearted atmosphere of the book makes it ideal holiday reading. The spirit of the book stayed with me for a long time.

8. I share the author’s opinion (doubts, hesitation, meditation, etc.).

I strongly disagree with the author’s opinion (view).

I also feel very strong about smth. (charity, mercy, compassion, humanness, etc.).

That remains to be seen if …

It would be right/wrong to assume that …

It is fair/unfair to suggest that …