Faulks on Fiction (Includes 3 Vintage Classics): Great British Snobs and the Secret Life of the Novel

Front Cover
Random House, Jan 27, 2011 - Literary Criticism - 400 pages

The publication of Robinson Crusoe in London in 1719 marked the arrival of a revolutionary art form: the novel. British writers were prominent in shaping the new type of storytelling - one which reflected the experiences of ordinary people, with characters in whom readers could find not only an escape, but a deeper understanding of their own lives.

But the novel was more than just a reflection of British life. As Sebastian Faulks explains in this engaging literary and social history, it also helped invent the British. By focusing not on writers but on the people they gave us, Faulks not only celebrates the recently neglected act of novelistic creation but shows how the most enduring fictional characters over the centuries have helped map the British psyche. In this ebook, Sebastian celebrates the greatest snobs in fiction - from Emma Woodhouse to James Bond.

Also included are three classic novels:
Emma
by Jane Austen: Emma is rich, independent and preoccupied with arranging suitors for her acquaintances. Her plans for the matrimonial success of a new friend, however, lead her into complications that ultimately test her own detachment from the world of romance.
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens: Pip's life as an ordinary country boy is destined to be unexceptional until a chain of mysterious events lead him away from his humble origins and up the social ladder.
The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith: Mr Charles Pooter is a respectable man, unfortunately, nobody seems to recognise his gentility. George and Weedon Grossmith's comic novel, perfectly illustrated, is a glorious, affectionate caricature of the English middle-class at the end of nineteenth century.

 

Contents

Emma A Note on the Author
Chapter XV
Chapter XVII
Volume II
Copyright
Chapter XII
Volume I
that she is incapable of such an emotion But I think it is conceivable
decided to send Pip to Egypt to work for the same counting house
Chapter I
tranquil light they showed to me I saw the shadow of no parting from
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong, part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces, the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist on national papers. He has also written screenplays and has appeared in small roles on stage. He lives in London.

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