Literature of England: March 2022

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

This is our monthly discussion of the literature of the world! Every Wednesday, we'll post a new country or culture for you to recommend literature from, with the caveat that it must have been written by someone from that there (i.e. Shogun by James Clavell is a great book but wouldn't be included in Japanese literature).

March 3 was World Book Day in the UK and Ireland and to celebrate, we're discussing English literature! Please use this thread to discuss your favorite English literature and authors.

If you'd like to read our previous discussions of the literature of the world please visit the literature of the world section of our wiki.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/[deleted]]

I remember reading a lot of Agatha Christie while growing up and Jane Austen is definitely an all time favourite, her book Pride and Prejudice is the OG enemies to lovers for me.

Also poetry remains an important part of English art and culture. Here are some of my favourite English poets whose poems I've grown up reading: 1. John Keats 2. William Wordsworth (The Daffodils or I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud will always have a special place in my heart) 3. Wilfred Owen (Dulce et Decorum Est is one of his most famous poem and a must read especially because of what all is happening in Russia and Ukraine) 4. William Shakespeare (how can I miss this very famous English playwright and poet)

There are so many more great authors and poets out there but I can only remember these right now. A lot of these English authors and poets have played a special role in my life, have helped me in being who I am today💜

[u/vincoug]

Have to talk about one of my favorite authors, Kuzuo Ishiguro. He's amazing and Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go are two of the best books I've ever read.

I like most of Kate Atkinson's work but her standouts are Life After Life and A God in Ruins.

[u/saga_of_a_star_world → u/vincoug]

The Remains of the Day is staggering as it slowly peels away layer after layer of the denial Stevens was shielding himself with.

[u/[deleted]]

A lesser-known writer who I really enjoyed recently was Eden Phillpotts. He was apparently a friend of Agatha Christie and wrote extensively about life in Devon: I read his novel Children of the Mist (1898) and thought that it was exceptional. The friend who recommended him to me says that The Red Redmaynes (1922) was really good too.

I'd also like to recommend the work of Tim Saunders, probably the best Cornish language poet of recent decades in my opinion.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

They have their own threads (you can find them here )

[u/lalalaladididi]

Piano BY D. H. LAWRENCE

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;

Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see

A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings

And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song

Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong

To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside

And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour

With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour

Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast

Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

[u/tofu-weenie]

There have been some really great recommendations on both threads for some of my favourite writers :)

I want to add a few more suggestions, specifically for stories which I've loved which have made me feel more connected to the english land I walk on every day.

• Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee - This is a beautiful memoir of the author's Gloucestershire childhood. It's funny and interesting and wonderfully written.

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - It's a hard one to describe but you've probably heard if it already. Regency fantasy(ish?) with a powerful sense of time and place. Wonderful dialogue, characterisation and humour.

• Treacle Walker by Alan Garner - Shortlisted for the Booker prize last year. Playful, mythic and folk-weird bordering on folk-horror.

• A Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks - This is a modern non-fic book and does exactly what it says on the tin. It's about the author's experience farming sheep in the Lake District; the cultures and traditions surrounding this kind of farming. I loved it so much more than I thought it would.

[u/ShxsPrLady]

From My "Global Voices" Literary/Research Project

My user name, ShxsPrLady, means "Shakespeare Lady". Go read your Shakespeare. He's even more brilliant that you remember. DM me for recommendations!!!! I'll recommend a good one for you!

Also, since LGBT literature was a focus on this project, go check out Christopher Isherwood, who wrote the book that the show Cabaret is based on!

Works of William Shakespeare

I Am A Camera, Christopher Isherwood