How the King James Bible has influenced the style of the American novel from Melville to Cormac McCarthy
The simple yet grand language of the King James Bible has pervaded American culture from the beginningâand its powerful eloquence continues to be felt even today. In this book, acclaimed biblical translator and literary critic Robert Alter traces some of the fascinating ways that American novelistsâfrom Melville, Hemingway, and Faulkner to Bellow, Marilynne Robinson, and Cormac McCarthyâhave drawn on the rich stylistic resources of the canonical English Bible to fashion their own strongly resonant styles and distinctive visions of reality. Showing the radically different manners in which the words, idioms, syntax, and cadences of this Bible are woven into Moby-Dick, Absalom, Absalom!, The Sun Also Rises, Seize the Day, Gilead, and The Road, Alter reveals the wide variety of stylistic and imaginative possibilities that American novelists have found in Scripture. At the same time, Alter demonstrates the importance of looking closely at the style of literary works, making the case that style is not merely an aesthetic phenomenon but is the very medium through which writers conceive their worlds.
- 209 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prelude: America as a Scriptural Culture
- Chapter 1 Style in America and the King James Version
- Chapter 2 Moby-Dick: Polyphony
- Chapter 3 Absalom, Absalom!: Lexicon
- Chapter 4 Seize the Day: American Amalgam
- Chapter 5 The World through Parataxis
- Index
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Yes, you can access Pen of Iron by Robert Alter in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Criticism Theory. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.