Literature by Place - Exodus Books

Store Location

It's kind of crazy to what extent geography can inform an author's work. Jack London spent most of his life at sea, dog-sledding across Alaska, boxing and generally being an adventurous guy who would put today's REI crowd to shame. Would he have penned some of the greatest American novels otherwise? especially ones concerned primarily with man battling the elements for survival in both a mental and physical sense? Very probably not, which explains why Oscar Wilde didn't write about wolves and crazy ship captains.

No, Oscar Wilde wrote primarily about fops and society people parrying witticisms incessantly. That's not to say his work has no place in a serious consideration of literature—au contraire, The Picture of Dorian Grey is one of the finest novels written in English. It's just more evidence that if you're an author who lives in the Canadian mountains or the clubs of London, your writing will reflect that.

Physical terrain isn't the only consideration. Sartre wrote about people lolling about with no real sense of purpose except to drink wine and smoke cigarettes and look languorous because he lived in France in the 1940s. Friedrich Nietzsche had immense mustaches and espoused a form of nihilism because he was German. The Russians wrote impossibly long novels because they lived in Russia. And Chinua Achebe was almost entirely influenced by his African upbringing.

That's not to say no one can write well about a context they haven't experienced firsthand. I'm pretty sure Robert Heinlein never visited Mars, and even if he did it wasn't as his books describe; the same goes for Bradbury. And no, Roald Dahl was never lost in a delightfully (though at times, terrifyingly) absurd chocolate factory. Yet even with these examples, the authors conveyed essentially the attitudes of the countries they came from—Heinlein and Bradbury from the U.S., Dahl from the U.K.

Our Literature by Place subcategories are admittedly Anglo-centric. North American literature features, well, American literature, and you can be pretty sure British literature reflects the same system; everything else goes in world literature. We have plenty of non-American or -British literature, we just don't have much from any one place besides those two. At any rate, we hope these categories are helpful, and if they guide you toward one book you're looking for (or maybe one you didn't even know existed), they've done their job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

Did you find this review helpful?

38 Items found Print

Active Filters:

Library Binding

	Barnaby Rudge Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $25.00
	David Copperfield Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $30.00
	Dombey & Son Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $27.50
	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Everyman's Library by Robert Louis Stevenson from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $24.00
	Dracula Everyman's Library by Bram Stoker from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Emma Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $26.00
	Emperor and the Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Bill Sokol from Pantheon Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
	Fellowship of the Ring Lord of the Rings #1: Deluxe Hardcover by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-12th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $40.00
	Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works by Flannery O'Connor from Library of America for 11th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $40.00
	Great Expectations Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Hobbit There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 5th-9th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $35.00
	Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - Deluxe Hardcover Collection by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 5th-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Iliad Everyman's Library by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald) from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $23.00
	Jane Austen Hardcover Collection Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $155.20
	Jane Eyre Everyman's Library by Charlotte Bronte from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Lord of the Rings - Hardbound Boxed Set by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-12th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX) $67.20
	Lord of the Rings Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set OSI by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 5th-12th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX) $125.00
	Mansfield Park Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Martin Chuzzlewit Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $20.00
	Nicholas Nickleby Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Northanger Abbey Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Odyssey Everyman's Library by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald) from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
	Of Plymouth Plantation Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608-1650 by William Bradford from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Historical Non-Fiction for 9th-Adult in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
	Oliver Twist Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Historical Fiction for 10th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Persuasion Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $26.00
	Pilgrim's Progress Heirloom Edition by John Bunyan from John L. Dagg Publishing for 10th-adult in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17) $28.95
	Pride and Prejudice Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Return of the King Lord of the Rings #3: Deluxe Hardcover by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-12th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $40.00
	Sanditon & Other Stories Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $30.00
	Sense and Sensibility Everyman's Library by Jane Austen from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $28.00
	Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen from Palazzo Editions Limited Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman, illustrated by Charles Mozley from Franklin Watts for 7th-12th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien 2^nd edition from Houghton Mifflin for 8th-12th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $45.00
	Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson from Heritage Press for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Tale of Two Cities Everyman's Library by Charles Dickens from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Victorian Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $25.00
	Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens from International Collectors Library Victorian Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Two Towers Lord of the Rings #2: Deluxe Hardcover by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-12th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $40.00
	War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise & Aylmer Maude Inner Sanctum Edition from Simon and Schuster Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Connect