The Poetics of Prose

by Tzvetan Todorov

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801491657
• ISBN13: 9780801491658
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful work, a necessity for those who like theory

Smart, dense reading for those who are into literary theory. Beware this won't teach you how to write if you're looking for that sort of thing. Todorov examines prose from a position of poetics, of syntax and semantics. He strives to make explicit the rules and codes that are used to create and justify fiction. Henry James is discussed at length for his ghost stories. Verisimilitude is brought into the light, genre and narrative are investigated from various sides. Definitely get this if you're into digging deeply into the workings of prose. Supplement it with Shklovsky and a couple others and you're going to be one heck of a good dinner date, provided your company obtained a PhD in literature. Great book.