Barry - Easy,... in Theory Any Way. (Beginning Theory - Peter Barry)

Member Name: jatkinson100

Product:	Beginning Theory - Peter Barry
Date:	08/11/00 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beginning Theory, Barry, Peter. Very easy to understand, explaining theories in bite-size chunks. For me, it was indespensible.

Disadvantages: If not on your reading list at Uni, you will have to order it, but it shouldn't be so hard to get hold of (ISBN: 0 7190 4326 3)

I did my degree in English with History, starting in 1996, and one of the books the lecturers pushed most was this one, Peter Barry's "Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory" (1995, Manchester Univ. Press), and I used it frequently, and again during my MA which I have just finshed.

The fact that it does not go into the greatest depth is its best feature, and it gives a short background as to where the criticism originates, such as how post-structuralism comes from structuralism, and who were the first people to use this style, and who named the style. It is very interesting in this respect.

However, the book comes into its own by giving easy explanations of some of the most difficult areas of modern criticism. For example, I have quite a few of the "For Beginners" books, and all of them are brilliant in helping you understan the ins and outs of their subject, except Postmaodernism For Beginners. It's not that the book is poor, but the subject is so difficult, and it deals with postmodernist literature, art, and arcitecture, where as Barry only deals with the litterary side. He gives an excellent explanation of the complex litterary topics, and guides you through using these styles, and using them well.

You couldn't do a whole course on theory with this book alone, but it would give anyone doing an English degree, or higher, a firm grasp of the terms, and provides a sound base from which to build your knowledge, and your skills.

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