Jonathan Noakes - Roddy Doyle: The Essential Guide

A blessing to teachers and students

The Times

The Vintage Living Texts series includes:

American Fiction

Martin Amis

Margaret Atwood

A. S. Byatt

Louis de Bernires

Sebastian Faulks

John Fowles

Susan Hill

Ian McEwen

Toni Morrison

Iris Murdoch

Salman Rushdie

Jeanette Winterson

Also by Margaret Reynolds and Jonathan Noakes

American Fiction

Martin Amis

Margaret Atwood

Louis de Bernires

A. S. Byatt

Sebastian Faulks

John Fowles

Susan Hill

Ian McEwan

Toni Morrison

Iris Murdoch

Salman Rushdie

Jeanette Winterson

An excellent and timely series, very useful for students, well-produced and well-written.
Dr Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway, University of London

I am impressed. Students will find these texts extremely useful, and serious general readers, too.
Professor Chris Woodhead, former Chief Inspector of Schools

Margaret Reynolds and Jonathan Noakes are at the cutting edge of providing English teachers with the support they need for teaching the contemporary novel.
Dr Vivian Anthony, Training Co-ordinator, Professional Development Services for HMC schools

Two highly sensitive and intelligent teachers (from school and university) lead us into dialogue with the author, the texts and their context and help us to question what and how we are reading and to arrive at illuminating answers. Such dialogue is the essence of good practice in teaching literature.
John Venning, Head of English, St Pauls School for Boys, London

This series is the first to teach students what they most need to learn: how to teach themselves. It is informative, rigorous and yet, more importantly, playful. It combines the qualities of the best teaching.
Anthea Church, Head of English, Kent College, Pembury

I didnt realise just how good the series was until I started working closely with it. The questions are so thoughtful and probing, and the analysis provided allows the students to lift their own understanding. The texts really do occupy their own niche between guides purely for teachers and the ubiquitous student crib, and are much better than either.
Michael Parker, Head of English, Newington College, NSW, Australia

This is a terrific series. The text and the readers response are at the heart of these guides; the tone is authoritative but never dogmatic, while the style is enthusiastic and approachable. The series is aptly named not only are the subjects still alive, so too are the guides.
Lucy Webster, The English Magazine

Vintage Living Texts are very modern. They are certainly democratic as they give the literary text to the reader, prompting personal critical response without suggesting what those responses should be. They will be a blessing to teachers and students.
Iain Finlayson, The Times Play Magazine

These guides, designed to reflect the National Curriculum, are likely to appeal also to university students, and those who take their reading group seriously.
Independent Magazine

In addition to sixth formers and undergraduates, the series also works well for those taking the International Baccalaureate or on EFL courses.
Liz Thomson, Publishing News

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781448139156

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Vintage 2004

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright Jonathan Noakes and Margaret Reynolds 2004

The right of Jonathan Noakes and Margaret Reynolds to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Vintage
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 099 452197

While every effort has been made to obtain permission from owners of copyright material reproduced herein, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future editions.

www.vintage-books.co.uk

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

We owe grateful thanks to all at Random House. Most of all our debt is to Rachel Cugnoni and her team at Vintage especially to Ali Reynolds Jason Arthur, Liz Foley, Katherine Fry and Jack Murphy who have given us generous and unfailing support. Thanks also to Caroline Michel, Marcella Edwards, Philippa Brewster and Georgina Capel, Michael Meredith, Angela Leighton, Harriet Marland, to all our colleagues and friends, and to our partners and families. We would also like to thank the teachers and students at schools and colleges around the country who have taken part in our trialling process, and who have responded so readily and warmly to our requests for advice. And finally, our grateful thanks to Roddy Doyle who alone knows how kind he has been twice over.

VINTAGE
LIVING
TEXTS

Preface

About this series

Vintage Living Texts: The Essential Guide to Contemporary Literature is a new concept in reading guides. Our aim is to provide readers of all kinds with an intelligent and accessible introduction to key works of contemporary literature. Each guide suggests techniques for reading important contemporary novels, and offers a variety of back-up materials that will give you ways into the text without ever telling you what to think.

Content

All the books reproduce an extensive interview with the author, conducted exclusively for this series. This is not to say that we believe that the authors word is law. Of course it isnt. Once his or her book has gone out into the world he or she becomes simply yet another if singularly competent reader. This series recognises that an authors contribution may be valuable, and intriguing, but it puts the reader in control.

Every title in the series is author-focused and covers at least three of their novels, along with relevant biographical, bibliographical, contextual and comparative material.

How to use this series

In the reading activities that make up the core of each book you will see that you are asked to do two things. One comes from the text; that is, we suggest what you should focus on, whether its a theme, the language or the narrative method. The other concentrates on your own response. We want you to think about how you are reading and what skills you are bringing to bear in doing that reading. So this part is very much about you, the reader.