Music, Religion, and Society in the Writings of Ian McEwan
Music, Religion, and Society in the Writings of Ian McEwan

Author: Iain Quinn

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781350215221

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"The book examines the role of music, religion, and society in the writings of Ian McEwan. McEwan's novels provide readers and scholars with both a portrayal of late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century British society and the views of an author who is constantly engaged in personal research. His understanding of music, religion, and society not only corresponds and expands upon those of scholars and commentators in these fields but, this book argues, also advances their arguments through a literary narrative that enables the reader to become immersed in a world that, if their own, is familiar, and if not, at least easily approachable. This book engages with a range of McEwan's writings, including Amsterdam and On Chesil Beach , and features an interview with the writer himself, building on work that explores how individuals and society at-large respond to music, religion, society, class struggles, and the complex structure of British society as it is portrayed in McEwan's narratives. In so doing, this is the first study that contextualizes and illuminates the significance of McEwan's work in the larger field of British cultural studies."--

Music and Religion in the Writings of Ian Mcewan
Music and Religion in the Writings of Ian Mcewan

Author: Iain Quinn

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2023-11-07

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1837650829

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The majority of characters in Ian McEwan's novels are educated members of the middle class, but without any great private financial means and certainly no great affluence. Despite different occupations, whether scientist (Solar), musician (On Chesil Beach, Amsterdam) or surgeon (Saturday), they are faced with moral, ethical, religious and personal dilemmas that bear resonance to a contemporary audience. Classical music is present throughout McEwan's writings (including his recent Lessons, 2022), mostly not as an accompanying theme but as a necessary part of life's pleasures and for some, essential needs. The combination of music and the unforgettable narrative moments create a unique space for McEwan to translate his views on the world. The value of music, not least as a complementary presence to silence, is portrayed not just as the source of comfort but as a known presence that is dependable to an individual on a near spiritual level. Within his writings there is also a clear understanding of the role of the Church of England as a societal, cultural and established presence within British society. In the literary descriptions of McEwan and other authors this often extends beyond the immediate theological and ecclesiastical concerns of the day. McEwan's writings demonstrate a perceptive knowledge of the nuances of this highly specific cultural dynamic. McEwan's ability to discern sentiments that easily resonate with musicians place his contribution to the field of music and literature studies in a singular position among living writers discussing classical music in Britain. This book provokes questions for those who encounter these areas for the first time in McEwan's writings, and it offers a place of sustained enquiry for those who have experienced these fields first-hand, whether as listeners, performers, congregants, audience members or scholars across literary, musical or ecclesiastical fields. Iain Quinn's book will be of interest to scholars and students of contemporary British literature, as well as those interested in words and music studies more generally.

Jeanette Winterson’s Narratives of Desire
Jeanette Winterson’s Narratives of Desire

Author: Shareena Z. Hamzah-Osbourne

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-05-06

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1350178047

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Putting forward a new theory of fetishism - alternative fetishism - this book provides an up-to-date examination of the work of Jeanette Winterson, offering fresh perspectives and new insights on the topics of gender, sexuality, and identity in her writing. Combining contemporary theories in psychoanalytical and cultural studies, it proposes that a rethinking of fetishism allows Winterson's works to be brought into sharper critical focus by repositioning fetishism as a daily practice in society. In so doing, it argues that Winterson's work challenges orthodox, normative, and contemporary views of fetishism to reveal her own alternative version. Containing the transcript of an email Q&A with Winterson herself and covering the majority of Winterson's oeuvre, from her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985), up to the most recent, Frankissstein (2019), the book is divided into three main chapters that each discuss a particular theme in Winterson's fiction: bodily fetishism, food fetishism, and sexual fetishism. While the book's focus is on Winterson, the theoretical framework it proposes can be applied to other authors and disciplines in the Arts and Humanities, such as theatre and film, offering new ways of thinking about topics such as fetishism, feminism, psychoanalytical theory, postmodernism, gender, and sexuality.

The Children Act
The Children Act

Author: Ian McEwan

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2014-09-09

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 0385539711

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A brilliant, emotionally wrenching novel from the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement about a leading High Court judge who must resolve an urgent case—as well as her crumbling marriage. Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who presides over cases in the family division. She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude, and sensitivity. But her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her marriage of thirty years is in crisis. At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case: Adam, a beautiful seventeen-year-old boy, is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes. Time is running out. Should the secular court overrule sincerely expressed faith? In the course of reaching a decision, Fiona visits Adam in the hospital—an encounter that stirs long-buried feelings in her and powerful new emotions in the boy. Her judgment has momentous consequences for them both. Don’t miss Ian McEwan’s new novel, Lessons.

Make-Believe
Make-Believe

Author: David Dickinson

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2020-01-01

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0718895479

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‘I will tell you a story that will make you believe in God.’ No story can guarantee being able to do this. Yet novelists can tell stories that make us think about what we believe about God and why. Despite repeated predictions of the death of the novel, thousands of works of fiction are published and read in Britain each year. Although Western society is less religiously observant than it was, many 21st-century novelists persist in pursuing theological, religious and spiritual themes. Make-Believe seeks to explain why. With chapters offering analyses of novels from several genres – so-called literary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy and dystopia – David Dickinson discusses a wide spectrum of novelists. Both those who are avowedly atheistic and those who have a vested interest in perpetuating biblical stories feature. Well-known writers such as Rushdie, McEwan, McCarthy and Martell rub shoulders with some you may be meeting for the first time. Appealing to literature students and people who simply enjoy reading, whether Christian or not, this study of God in novels invites us to open our minds and allow aspects of our culture to shape our understanding of God and to change our ways of talking about the divine.

The Cockroach
The Cockroach

Author: Ian McEwan

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Published: 2019-10-01

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 0735280487

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Kafka meets the world of Brexit in a bitingly funny political satire from Ian McEwan That morning, Jim Sams, clever but by no means profound, woke from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed into a gigantic creature. Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous six-legged existence he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he has woken up to discover he is the most powerful man in Britain: the Prime Minister. His mission: a nationalist revival, with or without Europe. Nothing must get in his way: not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy. In this bitingly funny, Kafkaesque satire, Ian McEwan engages with scabrous humour a very recognizable political world and turns it on its head.

The Contemporary British Novel
The Contemporary British Novel

Author: Philip Tew

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2007-06-26

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0826493203

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Second edition of this guide for students studying contemporary British writing - written by one of the key academics in the field of modern fiction studies.

Loyal Dissent
Loyal Dissent

Author: Patrick Derham

Publisher: Legend Press Ltd

Published: 2016-06-23

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 178955134X

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With origins as far back as the 14th Century, Westminster School is one of the oldest in the country with a long tradition of scholarship - and outstanding results, both in academic and public life.

The Givenness of Things
The Givenness of Things

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0374714312

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The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope. In The Givenness of Things, the incomparable Marilynne Robinson delivers an impassioned critique of our contemporary society while arguing that reverence must be given to who we are and what we are: creatures of singular interest and value, despite our errors and depredations. Robinson has plumbed the depths of the human spirit in her novels, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Lila and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead, and in her new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern predicament and the mysteries of faith. These seventeen essays examine the ideas that have inspired and provoked one of our finest writers throughout her life. Whether she is investigating how the work of the great thinkers of the past, Calvin, Locke, Bonhoeffer--and Shakespeare--can infuse our lives, or calling attention to the rise of the self-declared elite in American religious and political life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on display. Exquisite and bold, The Givenness of Things is a necessary call for us to find wisdom and guidance in our cultural heritage, and to offer grace to one another.

Life and Letters of John Bacchus Dykes
Life and Letters of John Bacchus Dykes

Author: Joseph Thomas Fowler

Publisher: Wipf and Stock

Published: 2021-03-23

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781532694660

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Joseph Thomas Fowler's 1897 edition of the Life and Letters of John Bacchus Dykes remains a critical document when assessing the musical life of the Church of England in the nineteenth century. It is filled with details concerning Dykes' involvement with the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) and the compositional process behind many of the hymns that are well-known today across several denominations. This is a riveting discourse for anyone with an interest in church life, England and its hymnody in the nineteenth century, and the nature of an individual commitment to parish ministry. Dykes emerges as a figure that may well be an inspiration to many embarking on a journey of ministry, whether clerical or musical, and it is hoped that this text will be a source of reference to both scholars and those who seek to further the work of the church.