Elizabeth Kantor

This book is several books in one.

First, it is a rather good capsule introduction to English and American literature. It is organized chronologically, first giving its attention to individual works, beginning with Beowulf, and later moving on to literary eras, such as the Augustan, selecting a few representative and especially important authors from the period. The author knows her topic, and has much that is interesting and original to say on her chosen subjects.

Second, the book is a diatribe against the ideologically stunted work of English scholars and professors today. Here again, the book is a success. There seems to be an inexhaustible supply of papers and indeed whole books that illustrate how the scholarship of today has become, mostly, a blinkered and boring exploration of ideologically dictated trivialities dressed up in a specialized vocabulary intended to impress rather than to communicate anything at all.

Third, the book intends to draw morals from this literature for our modern circumstances, making reference to the historical circumstances in which the original works were written, and drawing parallels with events or customs of today. In some cases, it succeeds rather well, and in others, it does not. I was most put off by the many references to "the patriarchy", which apparently is the modern English professors' greatest enemy, but in the author's opinion is just great. I know what "a patriarchy" is, but I struggle to even understand what "the patriarchy" is supposed to mean to these warring factions. I think this may be the one instance where the reactionary quality of the intent of the book works against it. This weird notion of "the patriarchy" needs to be undercut with a little more insight, not just accepted in the everything-they-say-is-bad-is-actually-good mode.

This book is part of the "Politically Incorrect" series. I've tried a few of these books and have been surprised at how good they are. The books themselves are generally far better written and more informed than their coat-trailing series title or generally rather cartoonish cover illustrations would suggest.

I was most surprised by the author's opinion that Shakespeare's comedies are his best work. I have never really enjoyed these since I became an adult but I like Macbeth and Richard III more and more. I've taken the hint, and will do my best to give the comedies another chance.… (más)

Several years ago, I picked up this book when my husband and I were collecting books from the Politically Incorrect Guide series.

Having been an English major, this title particularly intrigued me. But this volume from 2006 became lost on the shelves and was rediscovered as I prepared to oversee my son’s high school online class on American Literature. Apparently, the methodology of teaching literature in universities today had changed dramatically since the mid to late 1980s when I attended college.

At Whitworth College, we discussed the historical background of the text—both the time in which the piece was written and the author’s background. We sought to understand what the text actually said, often using glossaries for older texts such as Chaucer’s. (I spent a semester studying part of The Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English.) In class, we students discussed what ideas the authors conveyed in their writings—their beliefs about God, man, nature, and society. I often felt that the study of literature was a study of humanity—faith, psychology, sociology, politics, and history all wrapped up into one discipline.

Literature is the product of an individual and his time. Great literature, though, surpasses a given time period because it addresses the human condition.

According to author Elizabeth Kantor, many universities no longer teach English literature but Marxism, feminism, and Freudian thought. She quoted one Arizona State University student saying she “learned to ‘deconstruct the racist, misogynistic, homophobic subtext’ of the literature she studied.” It sounds like they are pulling rabbits out of a hat, finding ideas that aren’t really there.

During my senior research project class, the professor introduced us to Marxist, feminist, and a few other types of literary criticism for our information so we’d be aware of them as we embarked on our personal research. But they didn’t expect us to write that type of criticism.

Kantor’s thesis is to demonstrate how English departments in the United States have run amok in political correctness and how such instruction denies students access to timeless truths that great literature of the English language can teach us all.

In Part I, Kantor provides an overview of the different periods of English literature with one chapter dedicated to the American canon. In a sidebar in each chapter, the author provides a brief list of recommended titles for the reader.

In Part II, Kantor supplies one chapter on how the PC English professors suppress English literature and another chapter on what literature is for: “to teach and delight.”

The author closes her book with Part III, in which she teaches readers how to read great literature on their own. This book includes endnotes and an index. And, of course, as a PIG book, it is embellished with sidebars that jab at the politically correct world.

Anyone who has a literature background, like me, or wants to dive into the classics but has always been afraid to, will enjoy Kantor’s easy-to-read style and unabashed criticism of the literary left.

https://lorindasponderings.com/2016/10/11/book-review/… (más)

How many Wickham’s, Willoughby’s or Mr. Collins’ have you met before a Captain Wentworth, Mr. Knightley, or (miracle of miracles) Mr. Darcy landed on your doorstep? For the benefit of those who may not know who those gentlemen are, they are male characters in Jane Austen novels. They teach her heroines important life lessons about romance and love, and if one is paying attention, one can glean more than just the experience of reading a masterpiece of literature. Not only is Jane Austen a brilliant writer, she is a great life coach too.

We have long harbored the belief that everything you need to know about life and love is right there among the pages of Austen’s six major works. So does author Elizabeth Kantor. Her new relationship book, The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After, will explain it all in an insightful and entertaining way. Even this grizzled Janeite learned more than a thing or two.

The book is broken down into sixteen lively chapters, like: What Do Women Really Want from Jane Austen?; Don’t be a Tragic Heroine; Jane Austen’s Skeleton Keys to a Man’s Potential; or Arrange Your Own Marriage in the Most Pleasant Manner Possible. There’s even a fifteen page appendix questioning if Jane Austen novels are just entertainment or did she really intended to give us relationship advice – and eighty-four pages of numbered notes citing every source used on every page. Yes, gentle readers. Kantor has researched the heck out of this subject and it shows.

There is just so much to delight in this book that one barely knows where to begin praising it. Besides the friendly and accessible voice by its benevolent authoress, we just love the helpful format. Kantor has a lot to say in each of the chapters, but the density is broken up with insightful “Tips for Janeites” text boxes, subheadings categorizing subjects within the chapters, and a chapter summary at the end featuring three highlights: Adopt a Jane Austen Attitude; What Would Jane Austen Do?; and If We Really Want to Bring Back Jane Austen. In between there is a wealth of relationship knowledge, helpful advice, and a whole lot of fun. Connecting Jane Austen’s characters, plots and shrewd observations of human nature is just what our often befuddled twenty-first century relationship sensibilities need. Our favorite part was chapter twelve: “He Had No Intensions At All” How to Recognize Men Who Are “Just Not That into You.” Wow! We wish we had this book in our teens. *queue to every mom, aunt, or friend to buy The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After for a loved one*

We had the honor of being one of the first to read an advanced copy and were immediately smitten. It was no hardship to offer this blurb for the back of the book:

“Influenced by the master of love and romance, Elizabeth Kantor’s wise, witty, and insightful book should be added to Mr. Darcy’s reading list for any truly accomplished woman. It will transform you into the heroine of your own life.”

Now…off to re-read the important bits, again.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose… (más)

This was originally published in March of 2007:

Why you should read this book:

To Read Better, To Write Better.

Nothing just ‘happens’ to me. Shortly after reading Dr. Elizabeth Kantor’s book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature, I received my newsletter from my alma mater. In there I read about the recent death of an English professor whom I had for a freshman composition course back in 1982. May he rest in peace. His death, and reading Kantor’s book, got me to thinking about my own education. I went to a state school where the tuition was affordable and where the science program was strong. Granted, there were no Nobel laureates on the faculty, but the majority of the classes were taught by professors rather than graduate students. When comparing my education with those of friends who went to the Ivy League schools, I always joked that I was getting a degree at ‘bargain basement’ prices while they were paying an enormous amount to get the same thing. I also argued that my inexpensive degree prepared me well for life.

Now I am not so sure. I took one composition class, and a course in Shakespeare, and after that my greatest literary works were technical reports for various chemistry and physics laboratory assignments. Granted, the career track I selected has blessed me with the means to provide for my family – the highest purpose for an occupation is to finance the vocation one has chosen. It also has blessed me with a job that I really, REALLY enjoy:

“IwanttobeadoctorsoIcanusemyinterestinthesciencestohelppeople”
- Me, on multiple applications and interview for medical school

But in so many ways, I am still the socially awkward guy with very little to say and so ill-equipped to say it. My wife is far more interesting to talk to, and she didn’t spend nearly so much time in a classroom. And worst of all, whenever some quote or comment comes to mind as I go through my life, invariably it is from some television show or movie. This is from a man who got rid of the television from our house 12 years ago. May God forgive me for remembering so much garbage. If I quote poetry it is more often some line from some rock song, such as:

“Run, rabbit run.

Dig that hole, forget the sun,

and when at last the work is done

don't sit down it's time to dig another one.”

(This is what I say whenever someone passes me on the freeway; they become the ‘rabbit’ which will flush out any police on the road ahead of me.)

So here I am, a forty-something man trying to fix what I see as a glaring deficiency in my development as a man striving to be a good example to his children and less boring to those around me. Reading, writing, blogging, and encouraging my children to do the same are all things that I have taken as ways to improve myself.

I read Dr. Kantor’s book to read better and to write better. I picked her book, partly because it was given to me at a time when I needed something to distract me, but also because of the label ‘politically incorrect.’ I live and breathe politically incorrectness, so the book had instant appeal to me. I also suspected that what she said in the Introduction is true: that English or American literature is one of the last things one will study in an English department. A central theme to this book is that reading English and American literature will teach one about our culture, and show how the writings of a century ago (or more) can be relevant in this day and age. The politically incorrect zinger is that most of the literature was written by white males, or ‘dead white males,’ as the cover boasts.

The book is divided into three parts.

The first, titled ‘What They Don’t Want You to Learn from English Literature,’ covers writings from Beowulf(in old English), Medieval Literature(Malory), the Renaissance(Shakespeare), the 17th Century(Milton), 18th Century(Pope, Swift), 19th Century(Coleridge) and the 20th Century. There is also a section on American Literature (Twain, O’Conner). This brief overview of literature piqued my curiosity and gave me some ideas on where to start reading first.

The second part of the book, ‘Why They Don’t Want You to Learn about English and American Literature,’ discusses some of the reasons for not teaching literature in English departments. While I am not in a position to validate Dr. Kantor’s thesis, I have to say that my recollections of the English department at my alma mater are similar to those in the book. Even my class in Shakespeare was filled with watching movies (King Lear, Romeo and Juliet) rather than reading more Shakespeare. Higher level English classes were on more strange topics and seemed to be pushing the liberal agenda.

This section also included a chapter on what literature is for; namely, to ‘teach and delight.’ This section adds another reason for studying literature to my rather simplistic statement at the beginning of this review. Here I quote Dr. Kantor:

“Once you begin to know really good literature, you’ll want to fill your mind with it. You’ll find yourself measuring the objects you pursue, the satisfactions you achieve, and the kind of person your actions are making you against the standards you find in our classic novels and plays. You’ll want to store poetry up for your old age, so you‘ll have something of real value to turn over in your mind in the nursing home: you’ll be able to close your eyes, put your head back during the perpetually running soap operas and quiz shows (or whatever fresh humiliation they’ve dreamed up for “seniors” by then), and see Shakespeare’s sonnets, or Jane Austen’s marvelous characters, instead.”
(Page 210)

I would rather spend my waning years recalling the good, true, and beautiful than rehashing episodes of Gilligan’s Island.

The third, ‘How You Can Teach Yourself English and American Literature – Because Nobody Is Going to Do It for You,’ gives practical suggestions for a life-long study of literature. One of the best suggestions is to follow what Dr. Kantor calls Reed’s Rule, (after a professor at Chapel Hill, NC): For every piece of literature, ask, Why is this word, and no other word, in this place and other place? This suggestion is a bit much for someone who can’t spend so much time reading, but it does teach one about the English language.

More practical suggestions for those who have passed beyond the undergraduate years are to: 1. Learn poetry by heart, 2. Go see plays(better yet, act in a play), and 3. Talk with others about literature. This last one could be done by starting a book club.

When I mentioned these three suggestions to my wife, she asked that I memorize [a poem I wrote years ago] first.

I recommend this book without reservation. I plan on starting with something from the ‘Old English’ period to read, and then go from there.… (más)