Thursday, August 26, 2010

1959: Brown Girl, Brownstones to Rhinoceros


Purpose of this blog: Brief summaries of World, British and American literary classics for English majors.

Paule Marshall. American. 1959. Novel. Brown Girl, Brownstones. Barbadian family. Racism. Daughter discovers herself through the art of the dance. They measure themselves by whites.

Robert Lowell. American. 1959. Poetry and Prose. Life Studies. Confessional mode. Slang-like speech. Dramatic sense of immediacy. “Tranquilized fifties.”

Alan Sillitoe. British. 1959. Novel The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Sent to reform school for robbing a bakery. It was corrupt society that made him delinquent. Triumphs over warden and Establishment by losing in long-distance race against another school.

Eugene Ionesco. Italian. 1959. Play. Rhinoceros. Fear of remaining human when everyone else conforms by becoming a rhinoceros.

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