Warren Books

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 grad 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 book was one of the major texts for a graduate degree in English Literature. It seemed to want to give the science of Literature as a field of objective study with a body of learning. If I remember rightly for all its virtues in teaching different ways of analyzing Literature it did not have itself ' the feeling of literature'. It instead suggested that the real life of literature was not in this kind of study, but somewhere else where the private mind and imagination went on in its own way independent of building a body of objective knowledge. Is it possible that I have forgotten almost all of what I so assiduously learned from this ' text' because its whole approach is somehow opposite to where I feel the real life of literature is?

This book was written by a genius. I am a professor at a local college here in VA. If you are interested in a superior work of literature I suggest that you purchase this book at this website.

This book is the greatest book ever written..........I not only give it 5 stars, but its 1 Billion stars...This book is highly interesting and very exciting. I would buy a 100 copies and give them as gifts to your friends or familly....I would even buy it for a complete stranger........also, Mrs. Herran is a great teacher!!

I really enjoyed reading the book and plan to reread to get more detail from it. It is deep in thought and fun to read.

Thought provoking, enlightening and emotionally stirring. I loved it and each time I've re-read it have found something new. Would recommend it highly to anyone who likes poetry with an edge.

Any of us in the sales or marketing professions, whether we're motivating people to buy products, services or ideas know that there are lots of sources of information on how to improve this all-important skill. Warren Wechsler has just saved all of us hours of searching.

He's taken a lifetime of successful sales, sales management and sales consulting and put it in one place - a book titled appropriately "Total Selling." You can use it like a blueprint to take you from where you are to where you want to be in sales and in life. It's packed with examples and stories to motivate you and guide you to achieve your own goals whatever they may be.

Jeffrey Hedquist

Warren's new book, Total Selling will help your sales grow. If you're coachable, have the right attitude and treat your career professionally, much like a doctor or lawyer you will make more money in less time.

Warren is a salesmen's, salesman and you can't help but picking up on his winning enthusiasm and energy once you've read his new book.

Want real results you can take to the bank? Buy this book.

This is a great book for teachers who need help in finding simple songs for young children to sing. All the tunes used are quite familiar and anyone can use it...even if they can't carry a tune! Most of the songs are short and simple enough to teach by rote. There are also other versions of the Piggyback songs available. A MUST HAVE for early child educators!

This is a good book for finding simple songs to the tune of songs we already know for almost any holiday.

Warren Murphy has created the most entertaining detective novel I have ever read. The chemistry between the characters was so fantastic that I didn't really even care if the crime was ever solved! But it was solved, with a flair, and with a twist you'd never suspect. I couldn't put the book down. Great writing, great characters, great story...great book!

Warren Murphy has created the most entertaining detective novel I have ever read. The chemistry between the characters was so fantastic that I didn't really even care if the crime was ever solved! But it was solved, with a flair, and with a twist you'd never suspect. I couldn't put the book down. Great writing, great characters, great story...great book!

This is an excellent story of the author's life and a geography lesson on early Texas. Ride the brush country with Sterling on horseback and in the Model T. Follow along as this Texas Ranger's life evolves with the change of time. This is an excellent read about - One Ranger.

this is a very well written account of the authors life and career,as a member of this legendary organisation. it spans the period from about 1915-1935.during this time sterling rose from private to commanding the entire ranger service. the second part of the book offers full chapters on famous rangers.this book is required reading for any serious student of the texas rangers.

A few things hit in this issue. Another assassin, but a sneaky one. A massive storm hits the city, and at the same time, a serious case of the blue flu hits the police force.

Spider's illness is getting much worse, but here he gets a lot of help from the filthy assistants, as he tries to get everything done before he can't work anymore. Yelena herself is even growing to look more Spider-like.

They do have some friends, and aid comes from an unlikely source.

The latest TPB of this fantastic series features a pretty big plot point for our bowel-disrupting hero, Spider Jerusalem. This is definately NOT the book for an unsuspecting reader who is new to transmet to purchase. You'll want to start from the beginning.

That said, it's obvious from the stories in this volume that the series is coming to a final end. It has ended for all of you who bought the issues themselves, but for late-comers such as myself, you'd better start savoring the time you spend with Spider as much as possible.

The meat of this collection is the 4 part story featuring a huge storm, which thrusts Spider into a deep coma. We meet one of the Filthy Assistants father, and gear up for the last dozen or so issues of the series. Issues 43-48 are reprinted in lovely colour, a great cover, and the standard vertigo TPB fare. Transmet stops at issue 60, so you'd better pay catch up before the we hit bottom!

There are a couple of standalone type issues in volume 5. However, the main thrust of the plot is still the election. Spider uncovers police brutality and other nastiness in the election campaign, and is still looking for a way to use what he knows to bring down Gary Callaghan, The Smiler.

The way he goes about some of this is very entertaining.

I highly recommend this new Transmetropolitan TPB. My favorite TPB so far has been the second (Lust for Life), because the first has that new-comic unevenness and the third and fourth had a little too much pointless vulgarity for my taste. But this fifth one really impressed me. Like the others, it's grim, bitter, and funny, and Spider says utterly disgusting and shocking things in that sardonic way that makes him fascinating. But the graphic novel also takes up the issue of the human condition again, makes you remember that the reason Spider is fascinating is that he's not -just- a rat bastard -- he actually cares about the state of the world, and is equally sensitized to both its beauty and its horror. Spider has learned, essentially, that the best way to pursue the truth and fight the Man is to be an evil ****. And that's why we like him.

Special bonus: an introduction by Patrick Stewart, who's apparently a big fan. I would have never guessed.

This book is well written and very enjoyable to read. Everyday has a special message~

All too often we Christians are like greedy children, approaching God with a want list. Even though we remember to thank Him, we can fall short in the Praise department. Ruth Myers and Warren Myers have written ninety-six devotions, each based on scripture relating to praise. They remind us of the importance of praising God. I'd never realized how many Bible verses were devoted to this subject. I thoroughly enjoyed their devotions, and strongly feel this little book dserves a place on every Christian's bookshelf.