The Country and the City

Having just completely digested the first half of this book (basically the section that deals with the 18th cent.) I can say that I found it a very valuable book for my studies. Williams is an engaging and very readable writer who, unlike other more staid scholars, includes himself within his work. As one fellow graduate student said, he is like a friendly voice calling out in the esoteric world of academia--and sometimes when doing graduate work you really need a friend. Friendly appeal aside, Williams also sets the stage for the New Historicist approach that has ruled the last quarter century in historical, literature, and cultural studies. Reading the first four chapters alone will be beneficial for any wrangling you might do with texts working within in an episteme different than yours. I would highly recommend this text to anyone working in the 18th or 19th century, but do take it with a grain of salt. His citations and line of argument are a bit shoddy at times, but if you just go along with him enjoying the ride, there is considerable payoff at the end.

Really like this book. As a rural dwelling, rural upbrought, bumpkin, who nevertheless has had habitual social intercourse with city folk, and cities themselves, it plunged me, through its meditations on history and literature, deeply into the images, signs and languages that have subconsciously impregnated all our imaginations and at which we instinctively grope when trying to make sense of those most fundamental of divisions, rural/urban, modern/tradition, nature/civilisation. Being less versed in English lit than Williams-meister, I found it a bit difficult to keep up at times, but it also whetted by appetite for getting down to some serious literature consumption myself. If you read it, you won't think about the "countryside" in quite the same way again...which is to say, you'll actaully think about the countryside as a changing cultural notion, rather than not think about it, which has got to be alright. Wack this on the old bookshelve, and surprise your friends with your hidden marxist-critical-intellectual side. It worked for me.

Williams' *The Country and the City* is a classic study on the relationship between literature and society. His arguments are original and interesting, and formulate useful, if not necessary reading for later marxist criticisms. Some parts of the book are taken from one of Williams' earlier books entitled *The English Novel From Dickens to Lawrence*. Williams' writing is lucid and accessible, particularly in comparison to other critical texts. Students and Scholars of 19th and 20th literature, and individuals interested in rural/urban literature should definitely be familiar with this text.