Timothy Spurgin

Very interesting, although many things were kind of obvious for me as an English/lit major.
Made me want to read more Virginia Woolf. And D.H. Lawrence and definitely Tristam Shandy. I had to skip the Austen bits for fear of spoilers but I'll definitely get back to it when I read the rest of her work. It made me reconsider Joyce as a someone I might someday read (I *think* I once read part of the Dublineers and was bored stiff EDITED: Have read most of Dublineers, WAS SO BORED that I couldn't make myself go through the 3 stories I had left), especially Portrait of The Artist as a young man, which, to be honest, I was eying anyway because it has the best title ever, but not just that.

I was also very interested in the concept of the comedic plot.

From minute 18, lecture 16: Comedic world: a logical place where good is rewarded, bad punish. Nature is balanced. A tragic world leaves us in doubt. Also, in a comedic world everybody will get married at the end. The status quo will be maintained. And how at one point English novelists realised that it was hindering progress, that they weren't telling the stories of all the people that were not happy with how things were (women, working class, etc). Tragic plots, on the other hand, end with injustice, with a world that is not evil in intent but, even worse, indifferent, whatever we do has no effect in our future. A terrifying concept even nowadays for people who keep trying to create something out of chaos, give life some structure, give ourselves some measure of control.

I liked that it ended up with modern living writers, there's some people there I really want to check out, as well.… (mere)

Another amazing lecture series from the Teaching Company. In this series, Professor Timothy Spurgin presents an overview of English literature from the 1600s to modern day. The course is divided into a series of 30 minute lectures with each lecture focusing on one or 2 authors. What I really enjoyed about this course is the context he provides for each author, describing not only their lives, but the events and concerns of the time. He makes very esoteric works much easier to understand and much less intimidating. There are a few authors that I had decided I probably would pass by, like D.H. Lawrence or James Joyce, but after hearing his enthusiasm about their novels, I'm ready to give them a shot. In face, after finishing this lecture series, I started reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse and I'm really enjoying it - thanks to this course! One of the quotes that he mentions from Rushdie's Midnight's Children really sums up his philosophy on reading any piece of fiction - "To understand one life, you have to swallow the world." And to really understand any book, you have to know about the author's life and the world at that time. Professor Spurgin does a great job of giving you a taste for a wide selection of English classics. Great course!… (mere)

The Art of Reading is a lectures series from Great Courses. The author is an English professor at Lawrence University.

The series discusses how to get more out of a book. It is divided into two parts, the first half examines different aspects of literature and compares works with different styles. The second half looks at works of literature using the techniques from the first half to offer more insight into the works.

The author discusses styles of narration, descriptions, and the use of plot devices to develop the story. He provides clues to recognize different styles and compares works using these styles. He does the same for plot and characters. He discusses the role of the author and his relationship to the narrator and how to "preread" a book to prepare for the reading.

Most of the second half of the book discusses specific works of fiction and how to analyze them using the provided tools. He also discusses related items such as how a book is translated into a movie and why they differ so much, as well as dialog, the use of irony, and rhythm.

I found the series enjoyable and enlightening. Maybe I can get a little more out of reading in the future.… (mere)