A major collection of linked essays on how the great novelists – Dickens, James, Roth, Amis – go about representing human consciousness on the page
Human consciousness, long the province of literature, has lately come in for a remapping - even rediscovery - by the natural sciences, driven by developments in Artificial Intelligence, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology. But as the richest record we have of human consciousness, literature, David Lodge suggests, may offer a kind of knowledge about this phenomenon that is complementary, not opposed, to scientific knowledge. Writing with characteristic wit and brio, and employing the insight and acumen of a skilled novelist and critic, Lodge here explores the representation of human consciousness in fiction (mainly English and American) in the light of recent investigations in cognitive science, neuroscience, and related disciplines.
How, Lodge asks, does the novel represent consciousness? And how has this changed over time? In a series of interconnected essays, he pursues this question down various paths: how does the novel's method compare with that of other creative media such as film? How does the consciousness (and unconscious) of the creative writer do its work? And how can criticism infer the nature of this process through formal analysis? In essays on Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, Evelyn Waugh, Kingsley and Martin Amis, Henry James, John Updike and Philip Roth, and in reflections on his own practice as a novelist, Lodge brings to light - and to engaging life
About the Author
David Lodge (CBE)’s novels include Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work (shortlisted for the Booker) and, most recently, A Man of Parts. He has also written plays and screenplays, and several books of literary criticism. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages.
He is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Birmingham, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Industry Reviews
The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction * Observer *
A fascinating survey of how novels convey our thoughts * Guardian *
The abandonment of civilized talk about literature by the 'theory' fraternity would leave us very short if it were not for the likes of Lodge, the quality of whose prose and insights, not least because they both come matured from the casks of his own vocation, is a high treat. Leave consciousness to the neurophysiologists and philosophers, and explore human experience and selfhood with Lodge and the novelists, and enjoy -- A. C. Grayling * Financial Times *
Lodge is a clear writer, wise about things and a careful reader and in general kind even to people who plainly irritate him -- Sam Leith * Spectator *
He excels when he writes about books. His wide learning and through understanding of critical trends give confidence and enthusiasm to his work * Sunday Times *
Lodge's animating spark is his sedulousness, his ability to marshal the facts, pronounce a judgement and then subtly qualify it -- D. J. Taylor * Independent on Sunday *
Consciousness and the Novel makes a bright, instructive introduction to David Lodge - as critic and novelist - for anyone who does not know his work * San Francisco Chronicle *
Most other critics would make heavy weather of such topics, but Lodge always scintillates * Boston Globe *
