Norton Anthologies - C/D

classic of course.

haha, I totally assumed you were talking about the Norton Anthology of Western Music (which is, I suppose, a decent way to study for comps, and therefore classic.)

Not an anthology but the Norton Shakespeare is the best single volume edition available anywhere, in fact it's almost better than buying individual play editions (unless you need to carry it around natch). Large size text, loads of notes, intros.

And i'd also recommend the eng lit athology seventh ed vol 1. Goes up to 1800, therefore has lots of plays, poems, tracts which cost a lot to buy individually, whereas vol 2 has stuff you're likely to have already.
It's been great for me.

I've been carrying around the Norton Shakespeare and Norton Anthology of Poetry for the whole academic year which is a pain in the arse but they are totally classic.

Anyone prefer the Oxfords?

classic cuz they have EVERYTHING.

well, not really

Anyone prefer the Oxfords?

you mean shakespeare?

:)

The Oxford Anthologies of ________ Literature, at least one of which was edited by Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling! This attracts me to them.

o right. yeah the oxford poetry anthologies are ace, i've got several of them (17c, 18c, victorian). also like their 'major works' of each writer series.

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2003/12/28/lv_carney16.jpg

7th edition american lit vol. 1 ftw, incidentally

<3 norton anthologies but not unconditionally

also enjoy norton "critical editions"

I almost bought the Sister Carrie Norton Critical Edition tonight. Both volumes of the Norton Anthology of American Lit are taking up space on my bookshelf.

So dud. But the Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Poetry was helpful to me at one point, although not nearly as helpful as Poets for the Millennium or especially Imagining Language, two anthologies which tread related waters, would have been. But the big Nortons, ugh. So entirely not the right approach to literature.

Care to elaborate?

i also have much love for norton anthology of theory and criticism

Ooh, I've never looked at one of those.

The Norton Anthologies present literature as a series of excellent and exceptional moments, but acts as though it's a series of representative or signal moments, which gives a completely distorted view of the history of literature and of what literature, as a living practice, is or can be.

Norton Anthologies=great for survey classes when you want to cover a large period of time and talk about various aspects of literature without really focusing in on a specific writer. that's what I imagine they are designed for. as for the question whether or not they give a "distorted" view of history--I don't see evidence that the Norton editors are trying to put together a be all end all anthology.

but acts as though it's a series of representative or signal moments, which gives a completely distorted view of the history of literature and of what literature, as a living practice, is or can be.

every anthology ever does this^^

Dud.

Norton anthologies are an artful contrivance to fill a niche as lit survey course textbooks and not coincidentally to make as much money as possible. Outside of that context they serve about as much function as a doorstop. They are the Reader's Digest Condensed version of actual literature.

what would you suggest universities use, then, for survey classes?

the nortons are great! mmmm, distorted view of literature!

i also have much love for norton anthology of theory and criticism

-- max, Sunday, April 13, 2008 8:56 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

otm!

I like Norton critical editions of books & things, but I just can't justify the space shelf anthologies take up.

They are BURDENSOME when moving.

what would you suggest universities use, then, for survey classes?

Universities do not seek my advice on such matters. But since you ask, I would suggest they not offer survey courses. In the event they do not take this advice, I suggest they provide a sufficent number of dog-eared, scribbled-in reading copies of the works to be surveyed such that students may check them out of a book repository creted for this purpose.

every anthology ever does this

No, this is not true at all. Go read more.

Aimless OTM. Survey classes are almost entirely useless and wrong-headed.

A fun phenomenon is when two English majors move in together, and they put their book collections together, about half the bookshelf is made up of duplicate copies of Norton anthologies.

also enjoy norton "critical editions"

-- max, Sunday, April 13, 2008 3:33 AM

def. I wish more books I read for the sake of critical inquiry included the secondary materials these do.

My college English department got rid of broad survey classes just before my freshman year. Previously all English majors had to take Brit Lit I and II and Am Lit I and II, but since we were on the trimester system, people complained that 200 years of literary history in 10 weeks felt a bit rushed. So when I was there we just had to fill certain requirements (at least one course in British lit, at least one in American, at least one in lit from before 1800), which worked out better, I think.

But it didn't eliminate the need for big anthologies, since the alternative to 200-year surveys was often just 75-year surveys. My American lit anthologies (which I just discovered are NOT Norton but Heath and McGraw-Hill) were for classes in American lit from 1790-1860 and 1860-1940, respectively.

Still, the best literature course I may have taken in college was a senior seminar on fin de siecle literature (this was in 1999, so it seemed appropriate), and the fact that it was restricted to a single decade (1890s) made it a lot more interesting, since we could take more time to examine the cultural milieu of the works we were reading.

No, this is not true at all. Go read more.

but acts as though it's a series of representative or signal moments

sorry--I read all the time. And I don't need to read to know that most anthologies, whether they intend to or not, do this

also thirded on the norton critical editions

This thread should have been a poll.

I meant read more anthologies. Although I'd agree with you that most anthologies do this. But "every anthology ever" was a little more strongly worded than "most".

They are the Reader's Digest Condensed version of actual literature.

Yeah, complete texts, scholarly notes, affordable prices, worthwhile works chosen only, yeah i can see the comparison.

But Readers Digest books have much better illustrations!

http://bp0.blogger.com/_thlFYTjJbmQ/R4vJz8CgdWI/AAAAAAAADb4/rxGXOMnCUGA/s400/2191391713_e4217a91f9_o.jpg

http://bp2.blogger.com/_thlFYTjJbmQ/R4vJ0cCgdYI/AAAAAAAADcI/-YuHS9Az8v0/s400/2192168648_10f446c018_o.jpg

http://bp2.blogger.com/_thlFYTjJbmQ/R4vJzcCgdVI/AAAAAAAADbw/BstVdTsHKgc/s400/2191386745_3814e62047_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2127/2192169360_9390001b20.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2191396727_1b75c40dd8.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/2191407651_e36c5f9bbf.jpg?v=0

They're straight out of "Watchtower"!

I prefer using Bedford's shit for teaching the survey classes.

worthwhile works chosen only

I remember back when linguistics was interested in "worthwhile" linguistics only. Or when history was interested in "worthwhile" history only. Literary studies is only beginning to claw out of that shithole.

... And when it does begin to claw itself out it mainly does so in a lol books-as-material objects influence us as readers way (NO SHIT) or else to some other brand of novelty intellectualism (bowler hat studies or something).

Very classic – I still use my Brit Lit II Norton – but not for survey courses.

if you know what i mean

got rid of mine a few years ago and now i wish i hadn't because i'm sure as fuck not going to go out and buy collections of some of that victorian and romantic era poetry, but from time to time want to read it again. the thin paper was kind of annoying though

Norton Anthology of Western Music was the first thing I thought of. Informative, and brilliant examples illustrating something over a thousand years of music, from Plainsong through the middle ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century eras.

In that respect, classic!

That said, I've no experience of any other Norton anthologies...

i am going to read the whole english lit one

i started today

what's the first thing?? i remember it not being beowulf, right?

bede and caedmon's hymn

do it, max!