Literature

When V.S. Naipaul, Kamau Brathwaite and Derek Walcott published their first literary efforts there was no such thing as a Caribbean literary tradition. By the end of the twentieth century their work had begun to set the standard for literary production across the English-speaking world and they knew it would outlive them. The epitaphs for themselves and others written into their later works are meant to pre-empt their judgement by others, to tutor us in the proper ways of reading their achievements and to insert into the literary tradition, against the odds, a record of their subjectivity. This endless tautological conversation of I with I conceals a drift towards aesthetic stagnation but it has allowed all three authors the licence to experiment with new forms and to face up to issues that in their earlier work they were too insecure or too inexperienced to confront.

The elegant close readings Rhonda Cobham-Sander offers here from Naipaul's A Way in the World, Brathwaite's Barabajan Poems and Walcott's Omeros demonstrate how the project of writing one's critical epitaph becomes an overriding thematic concern as well as an important source of stylistic innovation in the work of all three writers. From personal testimony, to analytic insight, to theoretical interventions, her essays explore and celebrate the unique relationship the three writers forged with each other and with their Caribbean readers over the course of their careers.

Why does the Judge, a powerful, wealthy man bring his world crashing down by murdering his son, Baby-Boy? What is the Beggarman up to when he is seen walking away from the Judge's house with Baby Boy on the day of the murder? Why does Blanche Steadman, servant in the Judge's house, so fear the Beggarman's presence? What is the significance of the dress of feathers that flames and burns in the eyes of anyone who sees it? How does all this relate to the tragic death of the Judge's first wife, who was born with caul over her eyes, the witness bearer, the prophetic conscience of both the present and the past?

At the heart of the narrative is Blanche Steadman. She is at first the traumatised sufferer of her own life-shattering tragedy and unwitting observer of the pain locked deep in the secrets of the Judge's house. But through her reading of the Caul girl's diaries, her closeness to the questioning, rebellious Baby-Boy, and her friendship with the market woman, Irene Gittings (who is far from what she first seems) she comes to an understanding both of her own capacities and the hidden forces at work in her world. But it is not until the very last chapter that the whole story emerges, and until that point the reader is engaged in a journey of discovery as complex and surprising as life itself. As Irene Gittings old mother says: 'Open yuh yie, yuh sah gat sense', implying that mostly we pay the consequences of going around with our eyes closed.

Set in Guyana, In Remembrance of Her is full of unforgettable characters like Disguile with his dreams of a new empire ruled by Black men, Irene Gittings who succumbs to the dreadful temptation to change the course of the Caul girl's life, cross-dressing Baby-Boy with his white painted face, and Blanche Steadman, who with her enlarging vision becomes a warmly sympathetic guide for the reader to the unfolding mysteries of the story. What emerges, beyond the individual tragedies, is the picture of a wilfully amnesiac society that shuts its eyes and ears to past and present suffering. What Harris's gothic, richly poetic novel shows is the need for a new compassion if the restless dead are to find release and cruelty, pain, guilt and retribution are not to be endlessly recycled.

Denise Harris was born in Guyana, the daughter of the novelist Wilson Harris. She works for UNICEF in New York. She is also a photographer.

"Invisible Man" is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for 16 weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood, " and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," Joyce, and Dostoevsky.

Jacques the Fatalist is a provocative exploration of the problems of human existence, destiny, and free will. In the introduction to this brilliant translation, David Coward explains the philosophical basis of Diderot's fascination with fate and examines the experimental and influential literary techniques that make Jacques the Fatalist a classic of the Enlightenment.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

This book enables students to master the key concepts and skills involved in today's media studies programs. It contains chapters on How to Read a Media Text, Case Studies, Production Skills and Study Skills, and is complemented by revision tips, glossaries of key terms, useful contacts, research sources and activities.

This new edition of King Lear takes into account the work of the Shakespeare and Schools Project, the national curriculum for English, developments at GCSE and A-level, and the probable development of English and Drama throughout the 1990s. Cambridge School Shakespeare considers King Lear as theatre and the text as script, enabling students to inhabit the imaginative world of the play in an accessible, meaningful and creative way. It approaches the play in a new way, encouraging students to participate actively in examining it, to work in groups as well as individually, to treat the play as a script to be re-created, and to explore the theatrical/dramatic qualities of the text. The editorial comments cater for students of all ages and abilities, providing clear, helpful guidelines for school study. The format of the plays is also designed to help both experienced and inexperienced teachers.

A critically acclaimed debut from an award-winning writer--an epic family saga set against the magic and the rhythms of the Virgin Islands.

In the early 1900s, the Virgin Islands are transferred from Danish to American rule, and an important ship sinks into the Caribbean Sea. Orphaned by the shipwreck are two sisters and their half brother, now faced with an uncertain identity and future. Each of them is unusually beautiful, and each is in possession of a particular magic that will either sink or save them.

Chronicling three generations of an island family from 1916 to the 1970s, Land of Love and Drowning is a novel of love and magic, set against the emergence of Saint Thomas into the modern world. Uniquely imagined, with echoes of Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez, and the author's own Caribbean family history, the story is told in a language and rhythm that evoke an entire world and way of life and love. Following the Bradshaw family through sixty years of fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, love affairs, curses, magical gifts, loyalties, births, deaths, and triumphs, Land of Love and Drowning is a gorgeous, vibrant debut by an exciting, prizewinning young writer.

A powerful poetry picture book about the wonder and possibility contained in a single word: let.

Suppose there was a book full only of the word let . . .

Adapted from a poem called "Book of Genesis" by the award-winning poet Kei Miller and beautifully imagined and illustrated by Diana Ejaita, this provocative and hopeful picture book is an ode to the power of words and of books--of seeing oneself and being seen--and to a world of wonder and possibility.

This story takes place on an island with the familiar characters, issues and sights of Caribbean life. At the centre of this world are the Weavers, a mixed-race, middle-class family, and the Mayers family, whose ancestors, the Pindars, tried to uphold tradition, only to discover that love transcends even tradition. Eve, the Weavers' house help who is from a nearby village, is a calm witness to the dramas which are unfolding between these two families drawn together by a series of strange circumstances. With the help of Alexander and Ranee, pioneers of their religious faith, everyone pulls through the difficulties they face as a result, and manages to resolve many issues, maintain family ties, preserve friendships, forge new friendships and grow spiritually into stronger, better human beings. They remind us of some of the mistakes that we have made in our lives as a result of making uninformed or wrong choices. We cannot help but read between the lines that to err is human, and to forgive, divine. 'Lizards Under the Roof' is a novel stating and proving that people from different cultures, races, religions, nationalities and social standing can live together in harmony, once the spiritual impulse brings the understanding that we have more in common than what divides us. The greatest gift of God, our soul, bestowed at conception, is what all of us share and this makes us equal. The innumerable prejudices dividing us are all man-made. God desires only that we live in unity and peace, showing forth love to all of His creation. This story involves individuals and families living and interacting on an island in the Caribbean, bringing out the changes in the way of life under the impact of history, roughly spanning a period from just before World War One to the early Nineties.