Eliot's most famous work, Middlemarch, is a turning point in the history of the novel. Making masterful use of a counterpointed plot, Eliot presents the stories of a number of denizens of a small English town on the eve of the Reform Bill of 1832. The main characters, Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydg

Political, Psychological, Sophisticated, Victorian

A dense reticulum of ideas, which unravels into a swarm of images and a cacophony of sounds but nevertheless maintains a fluid coherence: such is the world of Wallace Stevens, Modernist poet par excellence, a man of stoic temperament and intimidating intelligence. With a daunting arsenal of unfamilia

Composed, Contemplative, Dense, Modernist poetry, Quirky, Smart, Sophisticated

Terry Eagleton is one of the few contemporary literary critics who haven't bought into Postmodernism wholesale. At a time when the terminology of Deconstruction is promulgated enthusiastically (and meaninglessly) in academia, Eagleton roots himself firmly in traditional Marxism. He maintains a carefu

Charming, Contemplative, Marxism/ideology critique, Political, Sophisticated, Witty

In the introduction to her novel "Babel Tower," A.S. Byatt says that her intention was to write a book without metaphors. Apparently this proved a difficult feat: "The best I could do was a kind of regretful commentary on the impossibility of refraining from metaphor." Right. Byatt is a serious m

Clever, Composed, Contemplative, Eclectic, Playful, Postmodern fiction, Sophisticated