Norman Page – författare

'His characters are marvellous, his insights wonderful ... You don't expect reality but you get something bigger and better' Ruth RendellThe Old Curiosity Shop was an instant bestseller that, even while it was criticized for its sentimentality, captured the hearts of the nation with its portrayal of little Nell Trent, who is thrown into a terrifying world when her beloved grandfather is unable to pay his debts to the loathsome Quilp. Alongside the pathos of the innocent, tragic Nell are some of Dickens's greatest characters: the ne'er-do'well Dick Swiveller, the mannish lawyer Sally Brass, the half-starved 'Marchioness' and the lustful Quilp himself, a creation of demonic power and cruelty. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Norman Page

`This time the fiction is founded upon facts' stated Wilkie Collins in his Preface to Man and Wife (1870). Many Victorian writers responded to contemporary debates on the rights and the legal status of women, and here Collins questions the deeply inequitable marriage laws of his day. Man and Wife examines the plight of a woman who, promised marriage by one man, comes to believe that she may inadvertently have gone through a form of marriage with his friend, as recognized by the archaic laws of Scotland and Ireland. From this starting-point Collins develops a radical critique of the values and conventions of Victorian society. Collins had already developed a reputation as the master of the `sensation novel', and Man and Wife is as fast moving and unpredictable as The Moonstone and The Woman in White. During the novel the atmosphere grows increasingly sinister as the setting moves from a country house to a London suburb and a world of confinement, plotting, and murder. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Drawing on much contemporary material, including Auden's fascinating unpublished diary, this book places personal experience in the context of the life of a great city: not only its political, artistic and cultural life, but the life of the streets, bars and caf� It presents portraits of figures, often fascinating in their own right, with whom Auden and Isherwood came into contact, and it demonstrates how, especially in Isherwood's fiction, the raw material of daily existence was transformed into art. The wide scope of this study, which ranges from poetry and cinema to street violence and prostitution, provides a richly detailed context for its account of two writers engaged in the process of self-definition.

Like Paris in the '20s, Berlin in the early thirties was one of the most exciting cities in the world. As the Weimar Republic sputtered to a close and war loomed on the horizon, the city was a magnet for talented writers and artists. It was in this now-vanished time and place that W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood lived, wrote and slept together. Norman Page tells the story of how these years shaped these important writers and, in doing so, illuminates a bygone era.

Since Speech in the English Novel first appeared in 1973, it has won international recognition as an important pioneering study of a topic that lies on the frontiers of literature and linguistics - the nature and function of fictional dialogue and its relationship to real speech.

This chronology, like others in the series, presents the story of Dr Johnson's life in a readily accessible format to provide scholar and general reader alike with a quick guide to dates, people and places together with supplementary indexes.

W.B. Yeats, one of the greatest poets who wrote in English, was also a playwright, theatre director, essayist, Senator, and life long occultist. He knew practically every important figure in the cultural and public life of his time, including Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Eamon de Valera. In recording the details of these relationships and tracing his prolific literary output, this book is a vivid witness to an extraordinarily important, rich and crowded life.

Providing details of Wilde's life and work in an easily accessible profile, this biography makes use of surviving letters, notebooks, diaries and documents, as well as other researched biographies. Other author's in the series include Pope, Byron, Dickens, Kipling, and Tennyson.

Combining the most widely-read and studied of Conrad's novels, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent, with The Shadow Line, this volume represents Conrad's early, middle and later writing. With an extensive introduction, explanatory notes, a chronology of Conrad's life and a glossary of nautical terms, this is an invaluable edition for students.

A.E. Housman (1859-1936) was a poet of great popularity and widespread influence: a Latin scholar of the front rank, a prose stylist, a notable writer of comic verse and, thanks to the success of "A Shropshire Lad", one of the best-known poems in the English language. Reissued to mark the centenary of the publication of "A Shropshire Lad", this biography is a complete account of Housman's life and career. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including much unpublished material, it provides readers with an insight into Housman the poet, the scholar and the man.

This book is designed to serve as a practical guide for students and others wishing to improve their skills in the detailed analysis and discussion of Hardy's prose texts. Its aim is to sharpen readers' awareness of the complexity and subtlety of Hardy's art by encouraging responsiveness to such aspects as language and style, imagery and symbol, descriptive and dramatic method and narrative technique. At the same time extracts are considered not in isolation but in relation to the overall purposes of a highly-organised text.While the main focus is on four of Hardy's most-widely read novels, the twenty-four examples of close analysis cover six major themes that are relevant to all his fiction. There are also numerous references to his other writings in prose and verse. The second part of the book provides, in succinct form, essential background material, including an outline of Hardy's life and career and an account of the literary, historical and intellectual contexts of his fiction. As well as a guide to further reading, a chapter is devoted to samples of criticism illustrating a range of approaches to the chosen texts and representing the work of important critics past and present.

Drawing on contemporary material, including Auden's unpublished diary, this book places personal experience in the context of the life of Berlin - not only its political, artistic and cultural life, but the life of the streets, bars and cafes. The biography brings together a major phase in the life of Auden, Isherwood, and the city. It presents portraits of figures with whom Auden and Isherwood came into contact, and it demonstrates how, especially in Isherwood's fiction, the material of daily existence was transformed into literature. The wide scope of this study, which ranges from poetry and cinema to street violence and prostitution, provides a detailed context for its account of two writers engaged in the process of self-definition.

Drawing on contemporary material, including Auden's unpublished diary, this book places personal experience in the context of the life of Berlin - not only its political, artistic and cultural life, but the life of the streets, bars and cafes. The biography brings together a major phase in the life of Auden, Isherwood, and the city. It presents portraits of figures with whom Auden and Isherwood came into contact, and it demonstrates how, especially in Isherwood's fiction, the material of daily existence was transformed into literature. The wide scope of this study, which ranges from poetry and cinema to street violence and prostitution, provides a detailed context for its account of two writers engaged in the process of self-definition.

Johnson is known more intimately to more readers than any other figure in English literature, and examples of his famous conversational powers have passed into the language. But he is known almost entirely through the great biography of James Boswell. This volume brings together a selection of the impressions of other men and women who knew him and includes accounts from different viewpoints of his appearance, his behavior, his friendships, and above all his incomparable talk.

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation. Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects. The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase boxes) and as individual volumes.

This set comprises of 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.

This third collection in the Family History Series (Jane Austen and the Brontes have already been published), is a five-volume set which looks at the cultural and biographical background to Thomas Hardy, embracing rare and out-of-print books, pamphlets and journal articles.Together these original sources include important writings and interviews on Hardy by family and friends, covering his life and relationships, his intellectual and musical background, his family background and their homes and haunts. It provides an invaluable amount of hard to find material for any serious Hardy scholarship.

This set gives a unique insight into Charles Dickens' life, through the writings of relatives and friends. Collecting hard to find material together in one place, this snapshot of one of our greatest literary figures will provide the background necessary for enhancing the study of his writings.

First published in 1977, this concise and insightful study of the life and works of Thomas Hardy provides a thorough examination of Hardy's literary output. Alongside a brief biography of Hardy's life, Professor Page's study also spotlights his major and minor novels, his short stories, his non-fiction prose and his verse.

First published in 1977, this concise and insightful study of the life and works of Thomas Hardy provides a thorough examination of Hardy's literary output. Alongside a brief biography of Hardy's life, Professor Page's study also spotlights his major and minor novels, his short stories, his non-fiction prose and his verse.

First published in 1972, Norman Page’s seminal study of The Language of Jane Austen seeks to demonstrate both the exceptional nature and the degree of subtlety of Jane Austen’s use of language. As well as examining the staple items of her vocabulary and some of the characteristic patterns of her syntax, attention is paid to her use of dialogue and of the letter form. The aim of the study is not simply to analyse linguistic qualities for their own sake but to employ close verbal analysis to enrich the critical understanding of Jane Austen’s novels.

First published in 1972, Norman Page’s seminal study of The Language of Jane Austen seeks to demonstrate both the exceptional nature and the degree of subtlety of Jane Austen’s use of language. As well as examining the staple items of her vocabulary and some of the characteristic patterns of her syntax, attention is paid to her use of dialogue and of the letter form. The aim of the study is not simply to analyse linguistic qualities for their own sake but to employ close verbal analysis to enrich the critical understanding of Jane Austen’s novels.

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation. Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects. The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase boxes) and as individual volumes.

This set comprises of 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.