Author:Aristotle
One of the most powerful, perceptive and influential works of criticism in Western literary history
In his near-contemporary account of classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to produce pity and fear in the audience, and asks why we derive pleasure from this apparently painful process. Taking examples from the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the Poetics introduced into literary criticism such central concepts as mimesis ('imitation'), hamartia ('error') and katharsis ('purification'). Aristotle explains how the most effective tragedies rely on complication and resolution, recognition and reversals. The Poetics has informed thinking about drama ever since.
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Malcolm Heath
Touching...a deft, sweet, and often comic novel.
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—— New York Daily NewsA tense, precarious achievement, brilliantly evoking a dangerous journey
—— The TimesIt is the sharpness of the topography that brings this book to life, the handling of the characters is equally impressive... Thubron has captured, with a vividness that few could match...the charms of a journey into the unknown
—— Sunday TelegraphAn intriguing and worthwhile success
—— Times Literary SupplementColin Thubron seems to be a writer undaunted by immensity, either of place or plot... To the Last City is haunting and passionate and, above all, magnificently fearless
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