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Parallel Literature
A parallel novel is an in-universe (but often non- canonical) pastiche (or sometimes sequel) piece of literature written within, derived from, or taking place during the framework of another work of fiction by the same or another author with respect to continuity. Parallel novels or "reimagined classics" are works of fiction that "borrow a character and fill in his story, mirror an 'old' plot, or blend the characters of one book with those of another". These stories further the works of already well-known novels by focusing on a minor character and making them the major character. The revised stories may have the same setting and time frame and even the same characters. Goodreads maintains a list of its readers' ratings of the most popular parallel novels; as of 2022, these included '' Wide Sargasso Sea'', '' Wicked'', '' The Penelopiad'', and ''Telemachus and Homer''. Creating parallel novels can have significant legal implications when the copyright of the original auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Ringbearer
''The Last Ringbearer'' () is a 1999 fantasy book by the Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov. It is a parallel account of, and an informal sequel to, the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. It has been translated into English by Yisroel Markov, but the translation has not been printed for fear of copyright action by the Tolkien Estate. Critics have stated that the book is well-known to Tolkien fans in Russia, and that it provides an alternate take on the story. Scholars have variously called it a parody and a paraquel. They have interpreted it as a critique of totalitarianism, or of Tolkien's anti-modern racial and environmental vision coupled with a destruction of technology which could itself be called totalitarian. The book says little directly on real-world politics, but can be read as an ironic riposte to American exceptionalism. Premise Kirill Yeskov bases his novel on the premise that the Tolkien account is a " history written by the vict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism. Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella ''Animal Farm'' (1945) and the Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and ''Homage to Catalonia'' (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as George Orwell bibliograph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nineteen Eighty-Four
''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically, it centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society. Orwell, a democratic socialist and an anti-Stalinist, modelled Britain under authoritarian socialism in the novel on the Soviet Union in the era of Stalinism and the practices of censorship and propaganda in Nazi Germany. More broadly, the book examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated. The story takes place in an imagined future. The current year is uncertain, but believed to be 1984. Much of the world is in perpetual war. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, has become a province of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, which is led b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandra Newman
Sandra Newman (born November 6, 1965, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American writer. She has a BA from Polytechnic of Central London, and an MA from the University of East Anglia. Newman's first novel, ''The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done'', was first published in 2002 and received a nomination for the 2002 Guardian First Book Award. The novel features an American adoptee from Guatemala named Chrysalis Moffat and focuses on events in her and her family's lives using an unusual style reminiscent of notes taken while composing the novel. Newman's third novel, ''The Country of Ice Cream Star'' (2014), was among eighty titles nominated for 2015 Folio Prize, and among twenty works nominated for the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. The novel follows the protagonist, Ice Cream Fifteen Star, through a dystopian future United States while she searches for a cure for her brother's inherited disease. Her fourth novel, ''The Heavens'' (2019), published by Grove Atlantic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pride And Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. Her father Mr Bennet, owner of the Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, has five daughters, but his property is entailed and can only be passed to a male heir. His wife lacks an inheritance, so his family faces becoming poor upon his death. Thus, it is imperative that at least one of the daughters marry well to support the others, which is a primary motivation driving the plot. ''Pride and Prejudice'' has consistently appeared near the top of lists of "most-loved books" among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become one of the most popular nov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jo Baker (novelist)
Jo Baker is a British writer. She is the author of six novels, including ''Longbourn''. She has also written short stories for BBC Radio 4 and reviews for ''The Guardian'' and ''The New York Times Book Review''. In 2018, she was awarded a Visiting Fellowship at the Queen's University Belfast, and she is currently an Honorary Fellow at Lancaster University. Early life and education Baker was born and grew up in the village of Arkholme, in Lancashire, England. She was educated at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, and Somerville College, Oxford. She moved to Belfast in 1995 to study for an MA in Irish literature at Queen's University, where she went on to complete a PhD on the Anglo-Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen. Novels * ''Offcomer'' (2002). Baker's debut novel is set in Belfast in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, and follows the life of Claire Thomas, a young woman from the North of England. * ''The Mermaid's Child'' (2005), concerns a young girl on a journey a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longbourn
''Longbourn'' is a 2013 novel by the British author Jo Baker. It gives an alternative view of the events in Jane Austen's 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'', telling the story from the perspective of the servants at Longbourn, the Bennet family home. It was published by Doubleday in the UK and by Knopf in the US. It has been translated into twenty-one languages, was shortlisted for the IBW Book Award and is due to be made into a film, adapted by Angela Workman and Jessica Swale and directed by Sharon Maguire. Inspiration The novel was in part inspired by the fact that Baker's ancestors had been in service. In an interview with Petra Mayer, Baker says, "I found something in the existing text that niggled me, that felt unresolved, and wanted to explore it further." She states that she feels this novel falls into the same category as Jean Rhys's response to ''Jane Eyre'' and Tom Stoppard's response to ''Hamlet''. In addition to her inspiration, Baker discusses the characte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Women
''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel. ''Little Women'' was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers were eager for more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume (titled ''Good Wives'' in the United Kingdom, though the name originated with the publisher and not Alcott). It was also met with success. The two volumes were issued in 1880 as a single novel titled ''Little Women''. Alcott subsequently wrote two sequels to her popular work, both also featuring the March sisters: '' Little Men'' (1871) and '' Jo's Boys'' (1886). The novel has been said to address three ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geraldine Brooks (writer)
Geraldine Brooks (born 14 September 1955) is an Australian Americans, Australian American journalist and novelist whose 2005 novel ''March (novel), March'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Early life A native of Sydney, Geraldine Brooks grew up in its inner-west suburb of Ashfield, New South Wales, Ashfield. Her father, Lawrie Brooks, was an American big-band singer who was stranded in Adelaide on a tour of Australia when his manager absconded with the band's pay; he decided to remain in Australia, and became a newspaper sub-editor. Her mother Gloria, from Boorowa, was a public relations officer with radio station 2GB in Sydney. She attended Bethlehem College, Ashfield, Bethlehem College, a Roman Catholic secondary school for girls, and the University of Sydney. Following graduation, she was a rookie reporter for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and, after winning a Balibo Five, Greg Shackleton Memorial Scholarship, moved to the United States, completing a master's degree at N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
March (novel)
''March'' (2005) is a novel by Geraldine Brooks. It is a novel that retells Louisa May Alcott's novel ''Little Women'' from the point of view of Alcott's protagonists' absent father. Brooks has inserted the novel into the classic tale, revealing the events surrounding March's absence during the American Civil War in 1862. The novel won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Plot summary In 1862, Mr. March, an abolitionist and chaplain in the Union Army, is driven by his conscience to leave his home and family in Concord, Massachusetts, to participate in the war. During this time, March writes letters to his family, but he withholds the true extent of the brutality and injustices he witnesses on and off the battlefields. He suffers from a prolonged illness stemming from poor conditions on a cotton farm in Virginia. While in hospital, he has an unexpected meeting with Grace, an intelligent and literate black nurse whom he first met as a young woman staying in a large house where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gone With The Wind (novel)
''Gone with the Wind'' is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty following William Tecumseh Sherman, Sherman's destructive "Sherman's March to the Sea, March to the Sea." This historical novel features a coming-of-age story, with the title taken from the poem ''Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae'' by Ernest Dowson. ''Gone with the Wind'' was popular with American readers from the outset and was the top American fiction bestseller in 1936 and 1937. As of 2014, a Harris Insights & Analytics, Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book of American readers, just behind the Bible. More than 30 millio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
