I'm sure things have changed since I was in high school and college, but one of the things I always regretted about the Norton World Literature was that it largely overlooked nearly all of Africa, eastern Asia, and large parts of eastern Europe. You might get the very occasional mention of someone who has been popular for decades (like Ngugi wa Thiong'o or Naguib Mahfouz), but it seems like you almost never encountered an author who hadn't gained fame outside of Europe or the U.S. As you said, the idea of the canon is ever-changing.
That's an apt point, and one that applies to various world histories, too. I'm looking at my 2nd edition of World Lit. and see a few sections on Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Japanese, Native American, Ottoman, and one section on African literature. It's a set of volumes I jump in and out of in a scattered fashion, so I don't yet have a sense of the significance of all those sections. Certainly something to consider when browsing each of the editions of these anthologies.
Hi Ruben. I really enjoy your channel. I have always loved my Norton Anthologies. I have 3rd editions of English Literature volumes from my long ago college days. I also have 6th, 7th, and 10th editions on my shelf now, along with a set each of World and American literature. After watching this video for the first time, I found a beautiful first edition copy of the Anthology of Theory and Criticism for $5! Over the years, I have gifted friends and relatives who were not English majors with various sets of Norton anthologies. I would like to draw your attention to the 6-volume Oxford Anthology of British literature. As far as I know, there is only the 1973 edition, but these are nicely portable to carry around, and also contain many unique gems.
Thank you, Deirdre! I'm so happy to hear from a fellow Norton Anthology lover! Each one I cherish having on my shelf. They feel like a steal no matter the price. Though, at $5 for that particular anthology, you discovered a spectacular deal! I'm gonna keep an eye out for the British Literature Anthology you mention (I'm always seeking rarities at used bookstores). That would be a wonderful way to round out my collection. Thank you for letting me know about it!
I forgot about those books! From someone who loves to dip into encyclopedias on Christianity, Saskatchewan, American business etc. I will probably get a lot of enjoyment from having the Norton's near my desk for an occasional adventure into a new subject, author or genre. Thanks!
"Strange and marvelous" is a wonderful way to describe it. Like slipping into the dreamy meanderings of a mind obsessed, only to discover a sense to the dissonance and a delicacy to the passion, and now all the world beyond is where the discordance lies.
You're speaking my language! Lots of books have entered and exited my book shelves over the years, but the Norton Editions endure. You have encouraged me to dust off my 6th Edition of American Literature (Volume D: 1914-1945, Between the Wars). I have always been keen to read more of T.S. Eliot; the high school students I teach are required to read Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Hurston. (Even though there is a 10th edition of this volume in print, I'll stick with the 6th 🙂). I love being able to open a Norton for a specific text and then finding so many other "neighbor" texts within the volume - like a scavenger hunt where the treasured items are surprises! Thank you for your thoughts and your channel format ~
Yes, a fellow lover of Norton! You describe perfectly the value of these hefty anthologies: all those "neighbor" texts waving hello as we peruse on by, inviting us in for conversation, their voices not forgotten. Thank you for watching and for caring about such precious scholarly classics!
I love this. I also have the full range of Norton anthologies (10th edition I think). It’s so good that they have extended them to include a wider range of cultures and voices. I do also think the very notion of the canon deserves serious scrutiny! I love booktube videos that evince a true and deep commitment to reading deeply and ranging far and wide in one’s interests! You exemplify this! Looking forward to part two!
I still have my Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, and it is definitely an odd but richly rewarding collection to have. All of these differing philosophies of reading, writing, and engaging with literary works. This anthology has always provided great food for thought in my own reading life, and I go back to it often. I've only just recently found out about the Norton Anthology of World Religions, which I'm pretty stoked about, and I see each religion comes also in its own dedicated paperback. It will be a good day if I ever find this collection in a used bookstore! Also, great video! More nerdy topics, please!
Thanks for the great video! Post modernist literature and poetry are the ones that really jumped out at me. Added them to my wishlist, maybe followed up by literary criticism, as you rightly point out a lot of modern thinking came out of those movements. I recently read A.C Grayling's Intro to Western Philosophy and found it very readable and a great primer for further reading I hope to do in that area. Thanks again.
Oh, I'm glad those stood out to you (postmodernist literature is some of my favorite)! Some other collections of experimental literature you may appreciate are The Penguin Book of Oulipo and Conceptualisms (edited by Steve Tomasula). Those two are bound to direct you in all sorts of wonderful directions toward authors you'll love. (I'm also likely to do a follow-up to my 'hard books' list that'll include more avant-garde works.) I was planning to do a video that covers some of this, but here are some more resources for understanding what's been going on of late with literary criticism. There's A History of Literary Criticism and Theory by M.A.R. Habib (easier to read but just as comprehensive as the Norton Anthology, since it is summarizing the broad movements and ideas) and a slim book called Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations by Steven Best and Douglas Kellner. That last book will feel like a direct continuation from where A.C. Grayling leaves off, as it similarly covers the major figures and their ideas in mostly chronological order (I read that same A.C. Grayling book a couple years ago). Not to inundate you too much, but there's also a great collection of essays that criticizes postmodernist views of science called A House Built on Sand, edited by Noretta Koertge. And if you want an even better understanding of recent philosophy in more detail than A.C. Grayling offers, check out Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy by Kwame Anthony Appiah. He's such a clear writer in spite of the complexity of what he writes about. Hope all this aids your future reading!
In this vein, love the old Viking Portable series. While most volumes are dedicated to a single author, say Maupassant or Melville or Nietzsche, a handful are "readers", anthologies dedicated to a particular era or region. E.g., the Medieval Reader, the Russian Reader, the Greek Historians, etc. They are brilliantly edited collections and I find the old 60s-70s mass market paperbacks to be beautiful editions.
Great stuff. I have a bunch of the Norton English Literature Anthologies from my degree and have just ordered the American po-mo poetry and fiction anthologies after watching this vid. I'm very impressed by your Vollmann collection. I live in the most rural part of the West of Ireland and so it's next to impossible to find any of this stuff beyond the online retailers - though, on a recent trip to London I was able to pick-up the abridged version of Rising Up and Rising Down. With postage, the paperback I got of Europe Central cost around €50 (which is a lot to cough-up for a paperback). Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about literature.
Norton Anthologies are great! I just started reading literature and Poetry a year ago, so I’m newer to it. So far I have only three: Norton Anthology of Poetry, Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, and Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry. For Shakespeare I have the Riverside Shakespeare, and the Arden Shakespeare. Then for Literature I’ve just been getting Penguins mostly or whatever translation I like best for a particular book. Loved the video, gave me some anthologies to consider in the future. I’ll check out your other videos.
I take it that you know the great collection of Oxford Book of (this and that), covering the wide field of every academic discipline. Cambridge University has its own collection as well, but I'd say that the Oxford University Press collection is more ample. Thanks for your videos.
I've recently fallen in love with Norton. At the moment I've only got 6ish books from them (Critical Editions of Moby Dick, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist..., Paradise Lost, and both the New and Old Testament), but I've checked out online those anthologies and instantly wanted them. It's a shame to live in a country where even English isn't the mother language, so it's nigh impossible to find editions like these used. I'll definitely pick them up when money is available.
@@ToReadersItMayConcernBeing my first day on your channel,I really love it🤩🤩🤩 I'm pursuing my B.A in English literature at Kharazmi university in Karaj,Iran🤩 Just finished my freshman year a week ago😀
That's fantastic! I congratulate you on getting through your first year. This is such an important time in one's life. Keep learning and growing and cherish this as much as you can!
Out of interest, noticing the Du Bois volume in the intro reel, how many Library of America editions do you have? Would you consider making a video on them (the publisher and/or whatever volumes you've got on your bookshelf)?
Yeah, sure! I have about six of them, though there are a few more I definitely want. Once I get a couple other ones I'll make a short video on the series and why I chose the ones I chose. Thanks for the suggestion!
![ว้าว!ลุงบีมแบกทองมารับขวัญหลานกันยกบ้าน [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.49 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Osihq1OAs-4/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm sure things have changed since I was in high school and college, but one of the things I always regretted about the Norton World Literature was that it largely overlooked nearly all of Africa, eastern Asia, and large parts of eastern Europe. You might get the very occasional mention of someone who has been popular for decades (like Ngugi wa Thiong'o or Naguib Mahfouz), but it seems like you almost never encountered an author who hadn't gained fame outside of Europe or the U.S. As you said, the idea of the canon is ever-changing.
That's an apt point, and one that applies to various world histories, too.
I'm looking at my 2nd edition of World Lit. and see a few sections on Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Japanese, Native American, Ottoman, and one section on African literature. It's a set of volumes I jump in and out of in a scattered fashion, so I don't yet have a sense of the significance of all those sections. Certainly something to consider when browsing each of the editions of these anthologies.
Hi Ruben. I really enjoy your channel. I have always loved my Norton Anthologies. I have 3rd editions of English Literature volumes from my long ago college days. I also have 6th, 7th, and 10th editions on my shelf now, along with a set each of World and American literature. After watching this video for the first time, I found a beautiful first edition copy of the Anthology of Theory and Criticism for $5! Over the years, I have gifted friends and relatives who were not English majors with various sets of Norton anthologies. I would like to draw your attention to the 6-volume Oxford Anthology of British literature. As far as I know, there is only the 1973 edition, but these are nicely portable to carry around, and also contain many unique gems.
Thank you, Deirdre! I'm so happy to hear from a fellow Norton Anthology lover! Each one I cherish having on my shelf. They feel like a steal no matter the price. Though, at $5 for that particular anthology, you discovered a spectacular deal!
I'm gonna keep an eye out for the British Literature Anthology you mention (I'm always seeking rarities at used bookstores). That would be a wonderful way to round out my collection. Thank you for letting me know about it!
Your channel is quickly becoming my favorite on TH-cam.
That's wonderful to hear, thank you!
I forgot about those books! From someone who loves to dip into encyclopedias on Christianity, Saskatchewan, American business etc. I will probably get a lot of enjoyment from having the Norton's near my desk for an occasional adventure into a new subject, author or genre. Thanks!
I see your copy of Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy on your shelf!!! What a strange and marvelous read 🖤
"Strange and marvelous" is a wonderful way to describe it. Like slipping into the dreamy meanderings of a mind obsessed, only to discover a sense to the dissonance and a delicacy to the passion, and now all the world beyond is where the discordance lies.
You're speaking my language! Lots of books have entered and exited my book shelves over the years, but the Norton Editions endure. You have encouraged me to dust off my 6th Edition of American Literature (Volume D: 1914-1945, Between the Wars). I have always been keen to read more of T.S. Eliot; the high school students I teach are required to read Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Hurston. (Even though there is a 10th edition of this volume in print, I'll stick with the 6th 🙂). I love being able to open a Norton for a specific text and then finding so many other "neighbor" texts within the volume - like a scavenger hunt where the treasured items are surprises! Thank you for your thoughts and your channel format ~
Yes, a fellow lover of Norton! You describe perfectly the value of these hefty anthologies: all those "neighbor" texts waving hello as we peruse on by, inviting us in for conversation, their voices not forgotten.
Thank you for watching and for caring about such precious scholarly classics!
I love this. I also have the full range of Norton anthologies (10th edition I think). It’s so good that they have extended them to include a wider range of cultures and voices. I do also think the very notion of the canon deserves serious scrutiny! I love booktube videos that evince a true and deep commitment to reading deeply and ranging far and wide in one’s interests! You exemplify this! Looking forward to part two!
Those anthologies are gifts that keep on giving! Thanks for being here!
I’m new to your channel and really enjoying it. Keep up the great work!
Thanks and welcome!
I still have my Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, and it is definitely an odd but richly rewarding collection to have. All of these differing philosophies of reading, writing, and engaging with literary works. This anthology has always provided great food for thought in my own reading life, and I go back to it often. I've only just recently found out about the Norton Anthology of World Religions, which I'm pretty stoked about, and I see each religion comes also in its own dedicated paperback. It will be a good day if I ever find this collection in a used bookstore!
Also, great video! More nerdy topics, please!
Thanks for the great video! Post modernist literature and poetry are the ones that really jumped out at me. Added them to my wishlist, maybe followed up by literary criticism, as you rightly point out a lot of modern thinking came out of those movements. I recently read A.C Grayling's Intro to Western Philosophy and found it very readable and a great primer for further reading I hope to do in that area. Thanks again.
Oh, I'm glad those stood out to you (postmodernist literature is some of my favorite)! Some other collections of experimental literature you may appreciate are The Penguin Book of Oulipo and Conceptualisms (edited by Steve Tomasula). Those two are bound to direct you in all sorts of wonderful directions toward authors you'll love. (I'm also likely to do a follow-up to my 'hard books' list that'll include more avant-garde works.)
I was planning to do a video that covers some of this, but here are some more resources for understanding what's been going on of late with literary criticism. There's A History of Literary Criticism and Theory by M.A.R. Habib (easier to read but just as comprehensive as the Norton Anthology, since it is summarizing the broad movements and ideas) and a slim book called Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations by Steven Best and Douglas Kellner. That last book will feel like a direct continuation from where A.C. Grayling leaves off, as it similarly covers the major figures and their ideas in mostly chronological order (I read that same A.C. Grayling book a couple years ago).
Not to inundate you too much, but there's also a great collection of essays that criticizes postmodernist views of science called A House Built on Sand, edited by Noretta Koertge. And if you want an even better understanding of recent philosophy in more detail than A.C. Grayling offers, check out Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy by Kwame Anthony Appiah. He's such a clear writer in spite of the complexity of what he writes about.
Hope all this aids your future reading!
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply and suggestions, I appreciate them greatly.
In this vein, love the old Viking Portable series. While most volumes are dedicated to a single author, say Maupassant or Melville or Nietzsche, a handful are "readers", anthologies dedicated to a particular era or region. E.g., the Medieval Reader, the Russian Reader, the Greek Historians, etc. They are brilliantly edited collections and I find the old 60s-70s mass market paperbacks to be beautiful editions.
Thank you for the reminder that these exist!
Great stuff. I have a bunch of the Norton English Literature Anthologies from my degree and have just ordered the American po-mo poetry and fiction anthologies after watching this vid. I'm very impressed by your Vollmann collection. I live in the most rural part of the West of Ireland and so it's next to impossible to find any of this stuff beyond the online retailers - though, on a recent trip to London I was able to pick-up the abridged version of Rising Up and Rising Down. With postage, the paperback I got of Europe Central cost around €50 (which is a lot to cough-up for a paperback). Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about literature.
Norton Anthologies are great! I just started reading literature and Poetry a year ago, so I’m newer to it. So far I have only three: Norton Anthology of Poetry, Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, and Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry. For Shakespeare I have the Riverside Shakespeare, and the Arden Shakespeare. Then for Literature I’ve just been getting Penguins mostly or whatever translation I like best for a particular book. Loved the video, gave me some anthologies to consider in the future. I’ll check out your other videos.
Sounds like you're building a great collection so far! Thanks for your kind words and for sharing!
I take it that you know the great collection of Oxford Book of (this and that), covering the wide field of every academic discipline. Cambridge University has its own collection as well, but I'd say that the Oxford University Press collection is more ample. Thanks for your videos.
Oh, yes, I love the Oxford Handbook series. I'll almost certainly do a video on my collection of them (I own about fourteen).
I've recently fallen in love with Norton. At the moment I've only got 6ish books from them (Critical Editions of Moby Dick, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist..., Paradise Lost, and both the New and Old Testament), but I've checked out online those anthologies and instantly wanted them. It's a shame to live in a country where even English isn't the mother language, so it's nigh impossible to find editions like these used. I'll definitely pick them up when money is available.
Maybe that would make taking a trip to the U.S. worthwhile, just to find great used books across the wealth of bookstores throughout the states.
Didn't know Norton anthology of world religions exist!😮🤩🤩
Oh, I'm glad to have helped you discover it then! It's excellent!
@@ToReadersItMayConcernBeing my first day on your channel,I really love it🤩🤩🤩
I'm pursuing my B.A in English literature at Kharazmi university in Karaj,Iran🤩
Just finished my freshman year a week ago😀
That's fantastic! I congratulate you on getting through your first year. This is such an important time in one's life. Keep learning and growing and cherish this as much as you can!
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Thank you!😊❤
Out of interest, noticing the Du Bois volume in the intro reel, how many Library of America editions do you have? Would you consider making a video on them (the publisher and/or whatever volumes you've got on your bookshelf)?
Yeah, sure! I have about six of them, though there are a few more I definitely want. Once I get a couple other ones I'll make a short video on the series and why I chose the ones I chose. Thanks for the suggestion!
I love these books. Have about a thousand books
It's wonderful having a full library! I'm glad you get to bask in that like me as well.