Literature and Consolation

Provides a deeper understanding of the comforts of reading literature History of the concept of consolationReadings of canonical works (Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Flaubert)Critical analysis of bibliotherapyChapter on contemporary writers and thinkers (Roland Barthes, Denise Riley, Julian Barnes) who have written on ‘grief’ By focusing on a number of significant moments in the interlocking histories of the book’s two central concepts--literature and consolation--this study makes readers aware of