Hell and Back: Reflections on Writers and Writing from Dante to Rushdie
by Tim Parks
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Description
In this brilliant collection of essays, Tim Parks, a celebrated novelist and master of the essay form, offers a wide range of wonderfully challenging and always provocative reflections on literature and the art of writing. Parks turns his attention to classic authors such as Dante, Leopardi, Borges, Beckett, and Christina Stead; contemporary writers including Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie; and the late W. G. Sebald and José Saramago, along with a dozen others. The lead essay on Dante sets show more the tone for the entire collection: erudite, contemplative, witty, and meticulous, it constantly offers new insights into The Inferno, that most celebrated of all poems. In Hell and Back, Tim Parks reminds us just how exciting the essay form can be. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A favorite author of mine, he writes literary essays that are witty and stylish, covering both the classics and the moderns. Definitely a book worth returning to from time to time.
What started as a well thought out idea turned into a series of book reviews over various topics. The only major connection between these reviews were either that the original author was Italian or the work was translated into or from Italian.
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Author Information
55+ Works 5,645 Members
Tim Parks is the author of more than twenty novels and works of nonfiction, including Italian Neighbors, An Italian Education, Adultery, Hell and Back, and Teach Us to Sit Still. He is also a contributor to the New York Review of Books and The New Yorker, and translator of the works of Alberto Moravia, Roberto Calasso, Italo Calvino, and Antonio show more Tabucchi, among others. He lives in Italy. show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Literature Studies and Criticism, Nonfiction, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 809 — Literature & rhetoric Literature, rhetoric & criticism History, description, critical appraisal of more than two literatures
- LCC
- PN511 .P18 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Literary history Collections
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 73
- Popularity
- 432,814
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.90)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 1
