This is a truly remarkable book. The authors sought to unite poetics (literary theory) with criticism (evaluation of literature) with scholarship (research) and literary history (the dynamics of literature in contrast with the statics of theory and criticism). This had to be done in a book of
reasonable size, without being eclectic or doctrinaire.

The authors succeeded in their aim and the book achieved a vast and somewhat unexpected popularity, especially as a student text. It has been in print forever and has been translated into many languages.

Much of the burden of writing fell on Rene Wellek because Austin Warren (not to be confused with another friend of Wellek, the poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren) was seriously distracted during the project by the protracted illness and death of his wife. Fortunately the job was in good hands because there is not much doubt that Wellek is the premier scholar of literature in modern times. He combined all-round mastery of many of the specialisms that constitute modern literary studies, encyclopaedic reading in several languages, a humane vision and commitment to reason.

The book has four parts, first Definitions and Distinctions; with five chapters including 'The Nature of Literature' and 'Literary Theory, Criticism and History'. The second part, Preliminary Operations has a chapter on the ordering and establishment of evidence. Part three The Extrinsic Approach to the Study of Literature, has five chapters including 'Literature and Biography', 'Literature and Psychology' and 'Literature and Society'. Part four, The Intrinsic Study of Literature, contains
eight chapters including 'Style and Stylistics', 'Literary Genres', 'Evaluation' and 'Literary History'.

The chapter titled "The Mode of Existence of a Literary Work of Art" is especially interesting because it gives the lie to the claim that modern literary theory and criticism (exemplified by the deconstructionists) have achieved an unprecedented level of philosophical sophistication. They worked through five possibilities, referring to "the poem" as shorthand for any sort of literature, or perhaps any cultural artefact.

1. The poem is a physical artefact consisting of marks on paper, or the grooves on a Babylonian tablet.
2. The poem is the sequence of sounds uttered by a speaker, reading aloud.
3. The poem is the experience of the reader.
4. The poem is an expression of the experience of the author.
5. The poem is a stratified complex of values, which cannot be reduced to any of the previous four theories.

They rejected (1) because a poem can be preserved in a purely oral tradition. Also the precise physical form of the work is not crucial. Hamlet is the same regardless of the size of the pages or the typeface or errors in typesetting or translation of particular editions.

They dismissed (2) because we do not read for the sounds alone, we read for plot and character and much more besides. As for (3) they argued that readers are influenced by all manner of personal circumstances ranging from their own theories of poetry and value to momentary conditions such as fatigue, worry or distraction.

The fourth type of theory takes two broad forms; in one the poem represents the intentions of the writer, in the other it reflects in some sense the totality of experience of the author, conscious and unconscious. The first of these views has little credibility because the so-called Intentional Fallacy has taken a severe beating in modern times. The second splits in half again, yielding deep psychological accounts of the work on one hand, and on the other, theories that account for the work as the outcome of large-scale historical and social influences bearing on the writer.

Wellek and Warren reject all the foregoing (while allowing some scope for investigations along those lines). They favour (5), a combination of phenomenology and modern linguistics.

"The work of art, then, appears as an object of knowledge sui generis which has a special ontological status. It is neither real (like a statue) nor mental (like the experience of light or pain) nor ideal (like a triangle). It is a system of norms of ideal concepts, which are intersubjective. They must be assumed to exist in collective ideology, changing with it, accessible only through individual mental experiences based on the sound-structure of its sentences."

This perspective clearly has many points of contact with Popper's three world theory of material bodies, subjective minds and objective ideas. The poem is more than a physical (world 1) object because is partly a subjective (world 2) event, and there is even more than that because it has some form of intersubjective existence. Wellek and Warren address this aspect in terms of collective ideology, while Popper speaks of the partial autonomy of the contents. Each formulation calls for a theory about emergent possibilities, sui generis qualities that cannot be reduced, without loss, to the more basic physical and subjective aspects of the poem, in the same way that the higher functions of language cannot be fully reduced to the lower functions.

This is a very interesting mystery book about a young teenager named Cassie B. Jones. She always wanted to become a detective. One day she gets a letter from her cousin Alexandra. It has a ticket to England. When she arrives in London airport she finds out that Alexandra is missing. This was her chance to become a detective. She tried to help inspector Crandall. It seems to Cassie that Aunt Beatrice and Alexandra's cousin Gwen are part of the mystery. Find out how Cassie solved the mystery.

Ben Bova wrote an amazing novel in To Fear the Light, although I have not read the first book (To save the sun) the book can stand on it's own right. It starts seeming as your standard run of the mill secret enemy wanting to destroy the empire sci-fi novel; however it ends in a compelling thoughtful story about the power of using our mistrust of each other to destroy somthing greater.

Traverse City and the Beautiful Surrounding Area captures an enchanting view of Northern Michigan. The photographs certainly captured the distinctive spirit of this "Up North" four seasons paradise. The visit during the National Cherry Festival is only one of the area's draws and you can see why so many people want to move to this part of Michigan.

When I heard a librarian read this book to a group of fourth graders, I believed this librarian threw a great opportunity to use this book as an educational facility for these students and others to come. I am a teacher, and once I heard this book, my heart lit up with joy. This book does not stop when it is read to the students. We can proceed by teaching them about our country's history, environmental issues, social issues, and trees in general. We can help students understand the importance of trees to every day life (oxygen) and putting trees into good use such as paper, pencils, even gum. I will truly use this book to its fullest allowing students to appreciate not only the issues in this book but also providing them with the beauty of literature. This book will deliver the joy of reading.

I wish I had had this book when my son was young and we were living in Oman. Most of the stories are set in Turkey, and are animal fables about three friends. In their sweetness and wisdom they reminded me of classic animal fables like Wind in the Willows, Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories, and also of William Steig's books, especially Amos and Boris (in the way that creatures of enormously different sizes and origins become friends). When I first read the stories, I thought they were translations from the Turkish of traditional folktales because of the natural way they deal with eternal themes of friendship, death, the outsider, and the warmth of home. But to Hoffman's credit, they are actually original stories. The narrative constantly returns to the idea that education is essential to overcome hatred and misunderstanding. The exotic (to us) setting of the stories would have been wonderful for my son when we were living abroad -- both because it is fascinating in itself and because it brings home that these themes are at home everywhere. It's a lovely book for adults too.

This book documents the fact that the USA has deliberately killed more unarmed innocent civilians than any other country in history (including more than Nazi Germany). It also shows that the USA capitalist system is less efficient and far more cruel than other systems such as communism (the latter of which is shown to be unjustly vilified by the USA capitalist press), although the book also provides an alternative to both. It is written by someone who has experienced both communist and capitalist systems/repression (and who has a PhD in Finance).

Against the backdrop of the approaching Christmas holiday, her role in the church play, and her family's wonderful holiday traditions, young Vicky Austin experiences feelings of rivalry for a sibling not yet born, and whose impending birth threatens to disrupt the holiday. This is a warm, loving book. It is an excellent story for older children, and I would recommend making the reading of it, chapter by chapter, part of a family's preparation for Christmas, like a literary advent calendar

I felt that the book was very imaginative. The dealings with the vampire were unique. The pace was well written. The book held my intrest until the very end. I would recommend this book to all vampire romance fans.

An amazing novel. I couldn't put it down. Austin Walker takes you on a headlong mad dash through the nightmare streets of an alternate future. The pacing sets you on edge as you see the future of a world where technology has made one man the new Messiah. A must-read for any sci-fi fan!!