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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19th Century Literature,

9th grade (Ages 14-15),

Used Books & Materials

	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain from Nelson Doubleday, Inc. for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain Library by Mark Twain, illustrated by E.W. Kemble and John Harley, edited by Victor Fischer, Lin Salamo with Harriet Elinor Smith and Walter Blair from University of California Press Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $13.00 (1 in stock)
	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Macmillan Classics by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel from Macmillan Fantasy for 7th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $13.50 (1 in stock)
	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll from Bantam Books for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Annotated Alice by Lewis Carroll from Bramhall House for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.00 (2 in stock)
	Annotated Hans Christian Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen from W. W. Norton and Co. for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $18.00 (1 in stock)
	Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Revised & Expanded from Anchor Books for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $20.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Autobiography of Charles G. Finney by Charles G. Finney from Bethany House Autobiography for 9th-Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Celebrated Jumping Frog and Other Stories Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Mark Twain from Reader's Digest for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham from Gramercy Books for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm from Bantam Books Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.50 (1 in stock)
	Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm, Josef Scharl from Pantheon Books for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand from Bantam Books Drama for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $2.50 (2 in stock)
	Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker 1963 Reprint from Heinemann Educational Books Drama for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $2.50 (1 in stock)
	Emma Penguin Classics by Jane Austen from Penguin Classics Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $9.00 $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Emma by Jane Austen, illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat with an inroduction by Deirdre Le Faye from The Folio Society Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $75.00 (1 in stock)
	Faust: A Tragedy Parts One and Two, Fully Revised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated by Martin Greenberg from Yale University Press for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	In His Steps by Charles Monroe Sheldon from Hendrickson Publishers for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte from Dover Publications Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 $4.50 (2 in stock)
	Joan of Arc by Mark Twain from Ignatius Press Biography for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $18.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Journals of Lewis & Clark Signet Classics by John Bakeless, editor from Signet Classics Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne from Reader's Digest for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Kidnapped Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751 Scribner Illustrated Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from Atheneum Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $14.50 (1 in stock)
	Lady of the Lake The Students' Series of English Classics by Sir Walter Scott, edited with introduction and notes by James Arthur Tufts from Leach, Shewell & Sanborn for 9th-Adult in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon Penguin Classics by Jane Austen from Penguin Classics Realistic fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $11.00 $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Last of the Mohicans Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth from Charles Scribner's Sons Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.00 (1 in stock)
	Last of the Mohicans Leatherstocking Tales #2 by James Fenimore Cooper, introduction by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Reprint from Bantam Books Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Washington Irving from Reader's Digest for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (2 in stock)
	Les Miserables (abridged) Designed to be Read as a Modern Novel by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E. Wilbour from Book League of America Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Lewis and Clark Expedition - 3-volume Set by Meriwether Lewis from J.B. Lippincott Co. Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $24.00 (1 in stock)
	Little Women by Lousia May Alcott from Penguin Putnam Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.00 $6.00 (4 in stock)
	Mansfield Park Vintage Classics by Jane Austen from Vintage Books Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from Charles Scribner's Sons Science Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Old Curiosity Shop Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Charles Dickens from Reader's Digest for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (2 in stock)
	Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Maynard Dixon from Heritage Press for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Pride and Prejudice Dover Thrift Editions by Jane Austen from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00 $3.50 (2 in stock)
	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen from Bantam Books for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat with an inroduction by Deirdre Le Faye from The Folio Society Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $95.00 (1 in stock)
	Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, illustrated by Frank Merrill from Reader's Digest for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Ramona by Helen Jackson from Little, Brown & Company for 9th-12th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells Reissue from Notgrass Company for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.95 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward FitzGerald and illustrated by J. Watson Davis from A. L. Burt Company for 9th-Adult in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Self-Reliance and Other Essays Dover Thrift Editions by Ralph Waldo Emerson from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.00 $2.50 (1 in stock)
	Shelley's Poetry and Prose Norton Critical Edition by Percy Bysshe Shelley 2^nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co. for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.50 (1 in stock)
	Shirley Penguin Classics by Charlotte Bronte from Penguin Classics for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Shirley Penguin Classics by Charlotte Bronte from Penguin Classics for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	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)
	Shropshire Lad The Living Library by A. E. Housman, Illustrated by Jeanne Edwards from World Publishing Company for 7th-12th grade in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four Dover Thrift Editions by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from Dover Publications Mystery for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens from Penguin Classics Victorian Novel for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Tale of Two Cities Dover Thrift Editions by Charles Dickens from Dover Publications Victorian Novel for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Tale of Two Cities - MP Student Book by David M. Wright 1^st edition from Memoria Press for 9th-12th grade in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP) $8.50 (1 in stock)
	Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving 3^rd edition from Club Everest for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving from Living Book Press for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $13.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Three Musketeers Windermere Readers #20 by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen 1954 Edition from Rand McNally Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.75 (1 in stock)
	Time Machine by H. G. Wells from Dover Publications for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Tom Sawyer Abroad and Other Stories by Mark Twain from Grosset & Dunlap for 7th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup from Graymalkin Media for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg from Doubleday & Company for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	When I Was a Slave Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection Dover Thrift Editions by Norman Yetman (editor) from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $6.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
	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)
	Works of Doyle by Arthur Conan Doyle from Black's Readers Service Company for 9th-Adult in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB) $4.00 (1 in stock)

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