Advantages: Wonderful resource
Disadvantages: none

...The Oxford Companion to English Literature is a weighty tome. But there's no fat! No, sir! Every ounce of the weight of this book is pure literary muscle! The book was first published in 1932, edited by Sir Paul Harvey, and the current edition is edited by the author Margaret Drabble. The book is an invaluable companion to anyone who has an interest in English, be it professional or amateur. The design of the book is simple to follow, with each entry in alphabetical order. The book is an eclectic collection of thousands of literary references. It covers fictional characters, authors, locations that are of significance to English literature, fictional locations, literary patrons, music, history, poetry, religion as it relates to literature, drama, theoretical concepts of literary criticism, etc., etc. As well as the main body... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent materials, tutors and support, good value for money, interesting assignments
Disadvantages: It's expensive (although there is financial support available), can be hard to motivate yourself

...I am currently half way through my first Open University course: A210, Approaching Literature. I was apprehensive at first, as I have had bad experiences with other distance learning companies! But from the online registration process, to receiving all the materials, to going to the monthly tutorials, to actually writing the assignments, I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! I am lucky as I have already been to university, but I could see how someone who has no experience of higher education could find it quite daunting. However, you receive a lot of support and guidance from the tutors and fellow students. The electronic TMA system, which allows you to send your assignments to your tutor through the internet, is really good and saves on postage costs! It is quite a constant workload. There are 7 TMA's (tutor marked assignments... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very detailed guidance
Disadvantages: Less able pupils may struggle with some aspects

...I must emphasise at the outset of this review that Revise the English and English Literature Anthology for AQA A is intended for pupils taking GCSE English examinations, but only those who are studying the AQA Specification A as is clear from the title. (AQA is an examination board.) Pupils will be supplied by their schools with the AQA Anthology itself (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198318812); the Anthology is not available in online or offline bookshops, but if you did need to obtain a copy, you might find one on Ebay. Tony Childs' book is therefore intended to assist with revision of the Anthology, by taking the poems and short stories one by one and asking questions that will guide pupils in the understanding and analysis of the works. The book opens with a six-page introduction that explains the aims of the book, how it can... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: English literature at its finest
Disadvantages: None

...and yet it is such an important piece of English literature it seems to me only right to give it coverage here. Doubtless it would be better if one of our band of English Literature graduates had written this essay, yet I will do my best. The tales are a group of stories told by each member of a party of roughly thirty fictional supplicants on a journey to Canterbury in the Middle Ages. They are organised by fictional moderator, Harry Bailly. Chaucer (retainer of the royal household, uncle to King Henry IV, and first to be laid to rest in what would come to be known as Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey) wrote them somewhere between 1387 and 1400 and they represent the lifestyles of every layer of society at the time. His pilgrims are thus from each layer of the social stratum and their stories when taken as a whole are a fascinating... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Makes academic debates appealing to a wider readership
Disadvantages: Its conciseness means you're left wanting more!

...I may sound a little swotty, enjoying my literary criticism so much, but let me assure you that literary theory can be cool. Bennett and Royle prove this perfectly. This wonderfully accessible book is great for anyone studying English at undergraduate level, particularly if they have any papers in Literary Theory. Also very useful if you like reading and analysing texts, thinking about contextuality and intertextuality. (I was told in the 'Will you, nil you...' review I wrote that I shouldn't explain literary terms as it could patronise some review readers, so I won't explain that intertextuality means writers' references to other works of literature in their own works... oops... I guess I had to put it in there just in case an aspiring young soul who is about to embark on a degree needed a little explanation :) Anyway, moving on... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: So many books...
Disadvantages: So little time!

...Can I blame ruthcole for this one? I can’t possibly miss the chance to witter on endlessly about books I have known and loved. And some I haven’t enjoyed quite so much. It does appear to have turned into quite a mammoth op, sorry about that! “A house without books is like a room without windows.” – Horace Mann. I’ve always read books. Sometimes not even books – in desperation I’ve even resorted to the back of the cornflakes packet. Just ask me what the ingredients are. ;o) I was lucky growing up – my parents house was always full of books to read, and the school and local library were there for the taking. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado: THE LITERATURE CHALLENGE... Question: What is your favourite genre? There are so many to choose from. I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good links to other relevant sites
Disadvantages: Not sure what the point is

...Some of you may know from reading a couple of my reviews/essays/ kids story that I am interested in writing and am looking in to what the best gateway may be for me to getting started. I am at the very early stages and as such am doing a fair amount of research into the subject. This research has taken me to a number of websites - of which litvillage.com is one. Website design and presentation This site has obviously been cobbled together (by a relative amateur I would guess) by someone or a group who had little financial resources at the time. It is a basic looking site with flashing images comparable to using clip art in a presentation at work - tacky and unnecessary. I am all for new entrepreneurs having a go, but do wish they could appreciate overdoing it with flashing images etc does not make the site look better, more... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: I make recommendations
Disadvantages: You may not like them

...This is a Q & A challenge originally set by Malu over on Dooyoo. Thanks to MonkeyMoo for…welll…being on my (not always working) alerts, and so drawing my attention to it. I read. A lot. I read. Fast. So although I swore blind I’d leave the challenges alone for a while…well…I couldn’t resit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE LITERATURE CHALLENGE... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Question: What is your favourite genre? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This one is easy for me – science fiction, hands down, with a bit of fantasy (yes, another Terry Pratchett fan here on Ciao) thrown in for good measure. I’ve read nearly everything Larry Niven has written (I highly recommend Lucifer’s Hammer by Niven and Jerry Pournelle), and like Stephen King (sometimes SF, sometimes horror, sometimes... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Friendly staff, sell second hand copies
Disadvantages: Reliability, variety, stock

...Ok, so I am a first year University student, studying English Language and Literature, I am therefore highly dependant upon books!! I have only come across the Portsmouth Blackwell’s shop, and am therefore writing this review with this particular store in mind. I’d like to begin my confessing that I am in two minds about the shop; the prices are the same as its competitors however the stock and variety isn’t there. I’ll consequently be writing this and discussing a few past experiences that I have had. I’d like to begin by saying that the shop is well presented and easy to navigate around as the varying sections are clearly specified. The building looks fairly new and has always been clean inside and out, encouraging me to go in. Staff themselves are very helpful and friendly easy to engage in conversation with and are willing... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: fantastically written, wonderful munipulation of language and characters.
Disadvantages: It is hard to put down, hard to forget and hard to accept just how intelligent people can really be.

...When i was handed this book on the last day of term, i doubted whether this would add to all the fun i was going to have over the summer holidays. Lets face it, being given a 225 page book to read isn't exactly the best thing we could have got! But as i opened it and read 'The Sound of The Shell, i knew how fantastic this book was going to be. So here i am, writing a review on perhaps one of the best pieces of literature i have studied. (obviously excluding shakespeare, as he rocks!) Lord of the Flies was written by an extremely intelligent man, William Golding. Inspired by the class he taught, he created this masterpiece in which many issues are explored. I find it wonderful how he sculpted this novel from watching his students on the playground, but i would hate to have been the person he based piggy on! Golding, like many... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful