Frank Kermode Knihy

Studie k teorii fikce. Kniha Smysl konců (1967) se zabývá „fikcemi“, jejich fungováním a vznikem, přičemž tento termín je používán velice široce: od textů biblických, přes tragédii, román až po vědecké teorie a politické názory. Autor si všímá především utváření těchto fikcí ve vztahu k lidskému nahlížení konečnosti a času vůbec, tedy ve vztahu k lidské potřebě dávat chaotickému světu tvar. Podle Franka Kermoda je základní „jednotkou“ takové struktury vztah mezi počátkem a koncem. Fikci tedy autor chápe nikoli jako to, co je „jiné“ než naše běžná zkušenost, ale jako to, co pohání a podněcuje naši zvídavost. Kniha je dodnes podnětná mimo jiné v tom, že i bez mohutného teoretického pojmového aparátu přináší zásadní vhled do povahy zkoumaného předmětu, což vynikne zvláště při jejím srovnání s naratologií, která se v době jejího publikování začala mocně rozvíjet především ve Francii.

Paris Review 6th Series is the sixth of collection literary interviews published by The Paris Review (1985), edited by George Plimpton, and includes an introduction by Frank Kermode.Interviews: Rebecca West; Stephen Spender; Tennessee Williams; Elizabeth Bishop; Bernard Malamud; William Goyen; Kurt Vonnegut, Jr; Nadine Gordimer; James Merrill; Gabriel García Márquez; Carlos Fuentes; John Gardner .

This volume includes works by Spenser (excerpts from all books of The Faerie Queene), Shakespeare (including The Tempest), Marlowe (Dr. Faustus, Hero and Leander), Donne, and Milton (Comus, Samson Agonistes, and long excerpts from Paradise Lost).

This is a collection of essays on each book of the Bible, and a number that relate to the Bible as a whole. It brings modern literary and historical analysis to this greatest of all works of literature.

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character

In The Age of Shakespeare, Frank Kermode uses the history and culture of the Elizabethan era to enlighten us about William Shakespeare and his poetry and plays. Opening with the big picture of the religious and dynastic events that defined England in the age of the Tudors, Kermode takes the reader on a tour of Shakespeare’s England, vividly portraying London’s society, its early capitalism, its court, its bursting population, and its epidemics, as well as its arts—including, of course, its theater. Then Kermode focuses on Shakespeare himself and his career, all in the context of the time in which he lived. Kermode reads each play against the backdrop of its probable year of composition, providing new historical insights into Shakspeare’s characters, themes, and sources. The result is an important, lasting, and concise companion guide to the works of Shakespeare by one of our most eminent literary scholars.

s/t: With a New EpilogueFrank Kermode is one of our most distinguished and beloved critics of English literature. Here, he contributes a new epilogue to his collection of classic lectures on the relationship of fiction to age-old concepts of apocalyptic chaos and crisis. Prompted by the approach of the millennium, he revisits the book which brings his highly concentrated insights to bear on some of the most unyielding philosophical and aesthetic enigmas. Examining the works of writers from Plato to William Burrows, Kermode shows how they have persistently imposed their "fictions" upon the face of eternity and how these have reflected the apocalyptic spirit. Kermode then discusses literature at a time when new fictive explanations, as used by Spenser and Shakespeare, were being devised to fit a world of uncertain beginning and end. He goes on to deal perceptively with modern literaturewith "traditionalists" such as Yeats, Eliot, and Joyce, as well as contemporary "schismatics," the French "new novelists," and such seminal figures as Jean-Paul Sartre and Samuel Beckett. Whether weighing the difference between modern and earlier modes of apocalyptic thought, considering the degeneration of fiction into myth, or commenting on the vogue of the Absurd, Kermode is distinctly lucid, persuasive, witty, and prodigal of ideas.

This classic work, back in print for the first time in over a decade, questions the public's harsh perception of the artist, while at the same time gently poking fun at the artists' own, often inflated self-image. schovat popis

The true biography of Shakespeare is in the plays. The great English tragedies were all written in the first decade of the seventeenth century. They are often in language that is difficult to us, and must have been hard even for contemporaries. How and why did Shakespeare's language develop as it did? schovat popis

Frank Kermode offers a reflective and personal narrative that intertwines his life experiences with profound insights on autobiography. He recounts his journey from childhood to his time in the Royal Navy during World War II, and his academic struggles at Cambridge. Through his elegant prose, Kermode explores the intricate relationships between life and literature, revealing how both can elevate and enrich our understanding of the world. His blend of humor and wisdom makes this account a unique exploration of identity and the literary landscape.