Cyclopedia of Literary Places-3 Vol Set

Place - setting, location - is as central to the study of literature as character. This three-volume set is a title-driven reference work that analyzes the use of place in literary works. The cyclopaedia contains articles on more than 1300 literary works - representing over 630 authors.

Grade 9 Up-Articles on 1304 literary works including novels, plays, short stories, essays, and poems are arranged alphabetically by title. Each entry begins with a quick reference guide to the work: author, genre, type of plot (comical, historical, psychological realism, allegory, etc.), time period, and original publication date. Next comes a brief analysis of the work and its importance. Then the real meat and potatoes are laid on the table: an analysis of place in each piece. The signed, clearly written articles are short, offering only tidbits of plot development and character. This is not an in-depth analysis but will be helpful to students who can't remember that the town in Fyodor Dostoevski's The Brothers Karamazov is called Skotoprigonyevsk. Selections covered range from the ancient epics to the modern novel; from Abraham and Isaac (a 15th-century mystery play, author unknown) to Tony Kushner's Angels in America (a 20th-century sociopolitical melodrama) and Toni Morrison's Beloved. The scope is admirably inclusive and culturally diverse. There is a complete table of contents for the set at the beginning of each volume. Though definitely not an essential item, this companion to Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (1998) and Masterplots (1996, both Salem) will be of use in large reference collections.
Herman Sutter, Saint Agnes Academy, Houston, TX
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this set focusing on the "use of place in individual literary works," place is defined as any physical location appearing in a work of literature, either real or imaginary. Types of places range from the broad to the particular: examples include countries (Spain), cities and towns (Grover's Corners), neighborhoods (Upper East Side), buildings (Wicker Bar), or individual rooms (Chairman's bedroom). The aim of the encyclopedia is to show "how place matters within the literary work and then how it functions as a literary device." The set is intended to complement two others from the same publisher: Masterplots (2d ed., Salem, 1996), which offers plot analysis of popular literary works, and Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (rev. ed., Salem, 1998), which offers character analyses. All of the 1,304 literary works (novels, plays, and a small selection of poetry) covered were selected from Masterplots because they lend themselves to place analysis.

The entries, written by scholars, are arranged alphabetically by title of work and are typically between 300 and 1,000 words, 700 words on average. Each entry contains brief standard information about the work such as title, author, dates, type, and a short paragraph discussing the setting within the context of broader themes. This is followed by a discussion of the major places; 6,000 places get their own paragraphs as subentries within title entries. In addition, other places appear in bold type within paragraphs, despite not having their own entries. Asterisks are used to identify places that are real rather than imaginary. The place index lists all real and many fictional places and groups together locations that are subsets of larger places, such as American West or Japan. Also included are a title index (including title variants) and an author index.

Cyclopedia of Literary Places differs from the few other similar-minded reference works because of its title-driven focus and its inclusion of both real and imaginary places. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (Harcourt, 2000) is arranged by place and only includes fictional locations. The Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction (Routledge, 1993) is the opposite, as it includes only real places upon which fictional entities are based in English-language novels and short stories. None of these works get past the "where" of a place to explore how it establishes mood, how it reflects the action or characters, or how it contributes to symbolism in a particular work. Therefore, Cyclopedia is a welcome work on a subject not fully exploited. It may not have sufficient background information about each literary work to stand on its own, but libraries already owning the Masterplots and Cyclopedia of Literary Characters sets will want to add it to the collection. Recommended for high-school, public, or academic libraries. RBB
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