Innovation and departures in the history of English literature - Nedko Ivanov Nedev

  The French Lietenant's woman is a very nice novel with a lot of innovation by the author. At first, I thought it was boring and tiresome (boring as hell, really!), but the final 150 pages are absolutely fantastic. The culmination of Charles and Sarah's romance and the two possible endings is really great idea. I felt goosebumps when reading it and I was really hoping it to end the way I want it. The auhtor gives you the possibility to chose how you want it to end, which is, in my opinion, what really makes this novel unique. 

  We were introduced this week to the Beat Generation, a group of writers that emerged in the U.S. after WW2. They were against the American establishment of the time and their way of expressing it was quite agressive and unconventional. Many of these writers pleaded for more sexual freedom and for the use of drugs. We read one of the most representative poems of this generation, America , by Allen Ginsberg. I find this pome very creative and amusing. The author uses irony and sarcasm to tease the American government, its policies and social injustices. I like it because I believe that this is the best way of making fun of something and not everyone can actually understand it.

  During this week, we finished with our analysis of "To the Lighthouse" and we started with the other most famous modernist writer in English, James Joyce. Sara taught us the theory that we need to know about him and she said that we do not need to read "Ulysses" (thank God). We read some excerpts from "A portrait of the artist as a young man". I find this text interesting, although very complicated to understand because we can never be sure of what Joyce wanted to say exactly in every line. The one thing I liked the most is his experimentation with language and the deep insight he offers of Stephen's life.