Edward Mendelson

An illuminating exploration of how seven of the greatest English novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Between the Acts—portray the essential experiences of life.

Edward Mendelson—a professor of English at Columbia University—illustrates how each novel is a living portrait of the human condition while expressing its author’s complex individuality and intentions and emerging from show more the author’s life and times. He explores Frankenstein as a searing representation of child neglect and abandonment and Mrs. Dalloway as a portrait of an ideal but almost impossible adult love, and leads us to a fresh and fascinating new understanding of each of the seven novels, reminding us—in the most captivating way—why they matter. show less

This book illustrates perfectly, the virtues of small independent used (and new) bookstores! I bought this last November at one of my favorite indie bookstores – The Blue Bicycle in Charleston, SC. On our annual visit to this wonderful city, we always make plans to spend a couple of hours there. Jonathan and Lauren Sanchez are everything booklovers want in a book store. Their knowledge of their stacks is encyclopedic, and when they recommend a book, I know I can rely on them. The next time show more you are in Charleston, make this a must stop on your tour. They are on King Street a couple blocks down from the Francis Marion Hotel. Every time I pass a large chain store, I ask if they have this title – so far those stores are 0-6. How else could I have come across this book so easily? Now, back to the stacks!

Two things struck me when I picked up the book – the dust jacket has a photo of six of my favorite novels, and a seventh I had never read. Then there was the subtitle: “What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life.” How could I NOT buy this book?

Well, I was not the least bit disappointed. The chapters took me back to my grad school days, when this sort of reading was 90% of my book fare. Here are the seven novels and the topic Mendelson discusses in each chapter: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (birth); Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (childhood); Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (growth); Middlemarch by George Eliot (marriage); Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (love); To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (parenthood); and Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf (the future). Does anyone need any more convincing?

Okay, just a few more words. Completely unfamiliar with Between the Acts, I was at sea in the last chapter, which reminds me to warn anyone interested in this book, that the author assumes at least a passing familiarity with these novels. Of course, no serious reader would not have read most of these books. I plan on hunting down a copy of Between the Acts, and then re-reading that final chapter.

As far as Wuthering Heights is concerned, I have loved this story for a very long time, yet Mendelson has given me an entirely new perspective on this monument of 19th century literature. I won’t spoil by revealing any of Mendelson’s ideas, but if you love these novels as much as I do, this book is a must read.

Most of the Chapter/Essays were incisive and clear, except for To the Lighthouse, but then again, the novel can also be confusing to first-time readers. I have only read Lighthouse once, and perhaps a better grasp of the story might have solved this problem. 4-1/2 stars.

--Jim, 1/30/10 show less

To be frank, I am not very interested in Auden's poetry, but I am interested in the man, and although I also have the Auden biography by Humphrey Carpenter, I bought this book as it seems to contain so much biographical information.

I am also more interested in the young Auden than the early Auden, and of course the group of friends at the time of their budding friendship. It was entirely serendipitous that I was reading Christopher Isherwood's Lions & Shadows. An education in the Twenties, show more which is also mentioned, at almost the same time. As these two books cover about the same periods, the Twenties.

Edward Mendelson's Early Auden cover the period up to 1938, which biographically is the most interesting period and covers some of his travels to China and their stay in Germany, where he watched the rise of fascism. This period between schooling and the outbreak of the war is also the period of discovering his homosexuality and the development of life-long friendships with Isherwood and other writers and thinkers of the period.

Mendelson gives in-depth psychological explanations for the development and maturing of Auden's poetry, with many excerpts to illustrate. The book can be read as a biography of the young Auden, with a lot of attention given to his poetry.

Very well-written and very well done. show less

The Inner Life of Mrs Dalloway by Edward Mendelson is comprised of three essays based on three lectures he gave and an excellent Introduction that serves to connect these essays.

While each essay can stand on its own and be read independent of the others, reading this as a book, thanks to the Introduction, is equally rewarding. While the opening does set up a way to tie the essays together it is still the readers job, as an engaged reader, to see how that later framing serves to bring these show more separate essays together. So no, these lectures/essays weren't completely rewritten to spoon feed the connections he pointed out to us in the Introduction. Doing so would have taken away from what each essay focused on. But tying it all together is not a difficult job, especially if you're naturally an active and engaged reader.

I know a lot of readers like to find a book like this about a classic work before they read that work. I'm not sure this would make an ideal choice since it concentrates on just a few of many themes that run through Mrs Dalloway. This is one time I would suggest reading the work of fiction before reading various critical assessments. There are so many ways into Mrs Dalloway and reading this book first might cause you to miss one that would be more meaningful to you. That said, I highly recommend coming to this book after reading Dalloway.

When teaching, this was one of the books I often had students write about simply because there were so many things a student might relate to, or be irritated by, all of which led to some wonderful essays. The discussions after the essays were turned in were always productive because everyone mentioned perspectives and ideas others hadn't considered or noticed.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy gaining new insight and perspective on works they may have read more than once. If you haven't read Mrs Dalloway yet, I would suggest making this your first read AFTER reading Dalloway.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less