Masterplots II

More than 400 classic novels are covered in this set. These titles, spanning 1900 -1986, are broken into three categories. The first category includes British and Irish novels from the 1950's to present and includes such authors as Iris Murdoch and William Golding. The second category encompasses a larger time span, and covers literatures from Canada, Australia, West India, Africa and India. This group includes such well-known writers as Margaret Atwood, Patrick White and V.S. Naipaul. The third and smallest category includes novels by major writers whose principal works have already been covered in Masterplots. These novels, such as Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out and D.H. Lawrence's Kangaroo were necessarily excluded from the selective coverage of Masterplots but are by no means unworthy of study. Following the accessible format developed for Masterplots II, this set is arranged alphabetically by title by which the work is best known in the United States. The individual essays are divided into six sections, including ready-reference top matter outlining publication information; type of work; principal characters; discussion of the action and plot; analysis of characterization; themes; literary devices and writing techniques; relevant environments in which the novel was published; and a listing of the best secondary reference material that specifically addresses the work under discussion.