For the People, by the People? Eugène Sue's 'Les Mystères de Paris': A Hypothesis in the Sociology of Literature
Christopher Prendergast
Research Monographs in French Studies 16•1 December 2003
- ‘What is particularly fascinating in Prendergast's work is his detailed analysis of the voluminous correspondence received by Sue as his novel progressed... The substantial Bibliography is itself illustrative of the various analyses that have been made over the years, among which For the People By the People? now earns a major place.’ — John Dunmore, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 26.2, 2005, 60-61
- ‘This is a brilliant and lucid book, richly documented and subtle, and as engaging as it is authoritative.’ — David H. Walker, French Studies 58.4, 2004, 561
Proust: La Traduction du sensible
Nathalie Aubert
Research Monographs in French Studies 13•1 February 2003
- ‘Careful examination of that delicate area between object seen and the deepening sense of being and elation which goes beyond the banality of the situation and becomes a challenge for the narrator to resolve in words: in fact, the very opposition of life and art that lies at the root of Proust's quest.’ — W. L. Hodson, Modern Language Review 99.3, 2004, 786-7 (full text online)
- ‘Utile et intéressant, ce petit volume introduit des observations profondes et nouvelles.’ — Gareth Gollrad, French Review 79.3, 2006, 624-25
Robert Antelme: Humanity, Community, Testimony
Martin Crowley
Research Monographs in French Studies 15•1 May 2003
- ‘A sensitive and timely account... Crowley’s challenging and detailed study shows vitally that if Antelme is ultimately and necessarily writing within the limits of his own period, none the less he makes an urgent, ethical, and highly politicized challenge to the reader which may never be realized, yet which remains all the more pressing at the beginning of the twenty-first century.’ — Kathryn Robson, Modern Language Review 100.1, January 2005, 220-21 (full text online)
- ‘Martin Crowley's concern, in this thought-provoking study of the text and the readings to which it has given rise, is to elucidate the dynamics of Antelme's thought firstly by focusing specifically on Antelme, rather than on Antelme as approached from Marguerite Duras, and secondly by situating Antelme's writings historically, philosophically and, to a certain extent, politically.’ — Margaret Atack, French Studies 58.4, 2004, 574
Silent Witness: Racine's Non-Verbal Annotations of Euripides
Susanna Phillippo
Research Monographs in French Studies 14•1 June 2003
- ‘Phillippo ... is to be congratulated on finding interest in such apparently unpromising markings and on giving them voice. Indeed, her book is a triumph of sober scholarship and critical imagination.’ — Michael Hawcroft, French Studies LVIII.3, 2004, 408-9
- ‘Source criticism seems to have caught a second wind lately ... Silent Witness represents an enlightened form of this methodological approach, giving an inside view of Racine's creative process that allows us to look over his shoulder in the atelier d'artiste.’ — Ronald W. Tobin, L'Esprit Créateur Vol. XLIV, n. 2, Summer 2004, 97-8
- ‘This book has been painstakingly researched and set out in a manner to facilitate the reader's understanding of the detailed argument based on close reading of the French and Greek texts.’ — Rosemary Arnoux, New Zealand Journal of French Studies 25/1, 2004, 61-2
- ‘It is true that we will never know why Racine marked certain passages, and that we can also argue for the influence of text that is unmarked. The study of sources will necessarily often belong to the domain of informed speculation. But if we accept that literary criticism deals more in persuasion than in certainties, we will be more sympathetic to this well-judged attempt to look at an old question in what is an original, clear-headed, and stimulating way.’ — John Campbell, Modern Language Review 100.2, April 2005, 500-01 (full text online)
- ‘For anyone interested in Euripides and his influence, the research and the argument here presented offer much to tantalize.’ — Clara Shaw Hardy, The Classical Bulletin 81.1, 2005, 98-100
- ‘Phillippo's conclusions remain firmly within the limits of what can reasonably be deduced from the evidence and the complete listing in an appendix of Racine's non-verbal annotations allow the sceptic to check against the original Euripidean text. This book has added an important element to the study of Racine's work.’ — Mark Bannister, International Journal of the Classical Tradition Fall 2004, 312-13