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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	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 $3.00 (1 in stock)
	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
	Caribbean Mystery A Miss Marple Mystery #9 by Agatha Christie from William Morrow & Company for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $15.99
	Complete Tolkien Companion by J.R.R. Tolkien & J.E.A. Tyler 3^rd edition from St. Martin's Griffin Lord of the Rings Reference for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Complete Tolkien Companion by J.R.R. Tolkien & J.E.A. Tyler 3^rd edition from St. Martin's Griffin Lord of the Rings Reference for 8th-Adult in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR) $27.00
	Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey 1^st edition from Touchstone for 7th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $16.00
	Death on the Nile A Hercule Poirot Mystery #17 by Agatha Christie from HarperCollins Mystery & Suspense for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $16.99
	Egg and I by Betty MacDonald from HarperCollins Biography for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $15.99
	Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift from Dover Publications for 7th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $6.00
	Hood The King Raven Trilogy Book 1 by Stephen R. Lawhead First Edition from Thomas Nelson Publishers for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $18.99
	Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle from Dover Publications for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $3.20
	King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard 125th anniversary edition from Great Light Publications for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	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)
	Leave it to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse from W. W. Norton and Co. Humor for 7th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $14.95
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Harvest House Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $11.99 $7.50 (2 in stock)
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Scholastic Inc. Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Harvest House Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Lorna Doone (adapted) by R. D. Blackmore, adapted by Jordan, Berglund & Washburne, illustrated by Alexander Key Reprint from Scott, Foresman & Co. for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Monster Calls Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay Reprint from Candlewick Press for 5th-Adult 2012 Carnegie Medal in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $12.00
	Monster Calls Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness from Candlewick Press for 5th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Morbid Taste for Bones Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters from Mysterious Press for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $3.50 (1 in stock)
	Morbid Taste for Bones Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters Reissue from Mysterious Press for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $14.99
	Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens from Oxford University Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $6.95
	One Corpse Too Many Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters Reissue from Mysterious Press for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $14.99
	Penrod by Booth Tarkington from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Phantastes by George MacDonald from Eerdmans for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.99
	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen from Oxford University Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	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
	Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain from Penguin Classics for 8th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Quo Vadis (abridged) by Henryk Sienkiewicz, edited and abridged by James S. Bell, Jr. from Moody Press for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Quo Vadis? by Henryk Sienkiewicz, translated by Stanley F. Conrad from Ignatius Press for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts from Down East Books for 7th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $18.95
	Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne from Bob Jones University Press Mystery/Suspense for 7th-10th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $6.99
	Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey from Dover Publications Westerns for 8th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $6.00
	Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey from Penguin Books Westerns for 8th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey from Oxford University Westerns for 8th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe from Oxford University for 8th-12th grade in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $7.95
	Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe from Dover Publications for 8th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $11.00
	Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, with an introduction by Virginia Woolf Reissue from Modern Library for 8th-12th grade in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $9.00
	Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen from Dover Publications for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $6.00
	Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $17.99
	Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and other tales Signet Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from Oxford University Mystery/Suspense for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.95
	The Robe by Lloyd Douglas from Houghton Mifflin Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $19.99
	Third Girl A Hercule Poirot Mystery #35 by Agatha Christie 2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Two Towers Lord of the Rings Trilogy #2 by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $17.99
	Watership Down by Richard Adams from Charles Scribner's Sons Animal Fiction for 7th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $19.99
	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.36
	Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings from Charles Scribner's Sons Realistic Animal Stories for 6th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $19.99
	Yearling with Reading Group Guide by Marjorie Rawlings from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 6th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $5.00 (1 in stock)

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