Bernard MacLaverty: New Critical Readings

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The author of such works as Lamb, Cal, and Grace Notes, Bernard MacLaverty is one of Northern Irelands leadingand most prolificcontemporary writers. Bringing together leading scholars from a full range of critical perspectives, this is a comprehensive survey of contemporary scholarship on MacLaverty. Covering all of his novels and many of his short stories, the book explores the ways in which the author has grappled with such themes as The Troubles, the Holocaust, Catholicism, and music. Bernard MacLaverty: Critical Readings also includes coverage of the film adaptations of his work.

Reviews

Rankin Russells Parabolic Plots in Bernard MacLavertys Lamb (pp. 2744) repurposes and explores the parables of the Good Samaritan and the lost sheep. Previous criticism on Lamb has presented it as a critique of religion and Catholicism. Rankin Russell offers an alternative approach, suggesting that it is Lambs misreading and neglect of illustrative parables that leads to his degeneration. As such, Rankin Russell suggests that Lamb, and MacLavertys fiction more broadly, has an ethical imperativedemanding that readers take moral responsibility for their actions and development. -- Hannah Sheed * Year's Work in English Studies *

Author Bio

Richard Rankin Russell is Professor of English at Baylor University, USA. His previous publications include Poetry and Peace: Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, and Northern Ireland (2010) and Martin McDonagh: A Casebook (2007).