ns
The Literary Traditions of •
EAST
&
WEST ...
~
DAICHES
:
A
Critical
History
of
English literature
Critic
David Dniehea
illuminates the
whole fascinating panorama of
English poetry and prose with
lively interpretations of the major
authors and their works set against
the social, political, and intellec–
tual climate of their times.
"There
is nothing equal to it. indeed noth–
ing quite like it in the whole field
01 Englishliterature."-N.
Y. Time••
"Permanently valuable."
-
Times
Liternry Supplement (London).
"An
extraordinary leat."-The
Reporter
1,090
pp.
1960.
2 volumes, 512.50
Chinese literature
•
•• •
...
U= -
A HISTORICAl.
INTRODUCTION
Chien
Shou-Yi
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The first work of its kind in 50
years, this wonderfully readable
I
volume offers a clear appreciation
of the foremost authors and trends
I
in one of the world's richest liter–
ary traditions. In his continually
I
absorbing narrative,
Dr. Ch'en
in–
corporates many superb examples
I
of poetry and prose and draws
heavily upon the rich vein of folk
I
songs and stories
to
reflect the full
scope of China's great literary
I
achievement.
665
pp.
Just pub-
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renders the junk scene to the
intrigued square as, for all iu
grimness, a sort of spiritual aris–
tocracy. Many critics have noted
the play's (ostensible) lack of
Beat pre-judgement : "There are
lousy hipsters and lousy squares,"
observes one of Gelber's ad·
diets, That may be so, but the
playwright doesn't show us any
good squares, only good hip–
sters; the squares he shows us
are either clumsy buffoons or
twittering ninnies. Best of all it
is, apparently, to be a good hip–
ster, like Solly the erudite junkie,
or Cowboy the straight shooter.
That a serious alternative to
their hip and heroin tinged vis–
ion of things exists, the play fails
to suggest. "That's the way it
is," intones, at intervals, the
dis–
embodied voice of 'a character
at the back of the darkened
theater, "that's the way it really
is." Even viewed as brother
under the skin to the tame
bourgeois, the junkie
IS
pre–
served in an aristocratic mantle.
When one character declares
that "the chlorophyll addicts,
the aspirin addicts, the vitamin
addicts, those people are hooked
worse than me" (and the pious
offstage voice certifies his words
beyond appeal), it is obvious
that the heroin fan knows it; the
chlorophyll fan doesn't.
