Literature by Place - Exodus Books

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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.

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	Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle from Penguin Classics for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $11.20
	Adventures of Tom Sawyer Puffin Classics by Mark Twain from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.00
	Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, George M. Towle (Translator) from Bantam Books for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, translated by William Butcher Reprint from Oxford University for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $9.95
	Ben-Hur Dover Thrift Editions by Lew Wallace from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00
	Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ Signet Classics by Lew Wallace from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $9.95
	Ben-Hur Dover Thrift Editions by Lew Wallace from HarperCollins for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.99
	Black Arrow Dover Evergreen Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $6.99
	Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $8.95
	Captains Courageous Signet Classics by Rudyard Kipling from Signet Classics Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling from Living Book Press Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.99
	Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, translated, with an introduction and notes, by Robin Buss from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.00
	Count of Monte Cristo (abridged) Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas, introduction by Roger Celestin from Signet Classics Realistic Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $6.95
	Frankenstein by Mary Shelley from Penguin Putnam Horror for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.00
	Jungle Books Signet Classics by Rudyard Kipling from Signet Classics Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press Historical Romance for 9th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $11.99
	King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain and She Three Adventure Novels by H. Rider Haggard from Dover Publications Action/Adventure for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.95
	Last of the Mohicans A Narrative of 1757 Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper Reprint from Penguin Classics for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $13.00
	Last of the Mohicans Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper Reprint from Signet Classics Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $6.95
	Last of the Mohicans Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper from Charles Scribner's Sons Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB) $24.99
	Last of the Mohicans Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from SeaWolf Press Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $11.95
	Lorna Doone A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore from Oxford University Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $13.95
	Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from Modern Library for 9th grade-adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.00
	Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Harry Rountree 100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press for 9th grade-adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $7.16
	Louise de la Valliere Alexandre Dumas Collection #4 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.95
	Man in the Iron Mask Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas from Signet Classics Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.95
	Man in the Iron Mask Alexandre Dumas Collection #5 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $14.95
	Master of Ballantrae Penguin Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from SeaWolf Press Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $8.95
	Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget 100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press for 7th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $7.96
	Pathfinder The Inland Sea Leatherstocking Tales #3 by James Fenimore Cooper from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.00
	Pioneers Leatherstocking Tales #4 by James Fenimore Cooper from Signet Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.95
	Pioneers The Sources of the Susquehanna; A Descriptive Tale Leatherstocking Tales #4 by James Fenimore Cooper Reprint from Penguin Classics for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.00
	Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling Reissue from Oxford University for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $11.95
	Prisoner of Zenda Penguin Classics by Anthony Hope 1^st edition from Oxford University Adventure/Political Satire for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $9.95
	Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Arthur Rackham from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 7th-12th grade in Everyman's Library Children's Classics (Location: FIC-ELC) $22.00
	Three Musketeers Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas from Signet Classics Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.95
	Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas Collection #1 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $12.95
	Three Musketeers Everyman's Library by Alexandre Dumas from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $32.00
	Three Musketeers Everyman's Library by Alexandre Dumas, translated by William Barrow and illustrated by Edouard Zier from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in Everyman's Library Children's Classics (Location: FIC-ELC) $28.00
	Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain from SeaWolf Press for 7th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $6.95
	Treasure Island by Sir Robert Louis Stevenson from Bantam Books for 6th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.95
	Twenty Years After Alexandre Dumas Collection #2 by Alexandre Dumas Reissue from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.95
	Vicomte de Bragelonne Alexandre Dumas Collection #3 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.95
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	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth 100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $10.36 $5.20 (1 in stock)

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