Personal Blogs

10 June 2026

I finished reading Heart of Darkness, so I’ve moved onto reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I initially struggled to understand what on earth was going on, but when I got going, the pages started to go by quite quickly. I’m nearly halfway through, and onto the third narrator. It’s a curious text.

I’ve put a bid in for the Norton Critical Edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost on a popular online auction site. I’ll see if I manage to get it.

14 June 2026

Not so much formal study but continued reading and informal browsing.

I’m aware that there is a theme of tragedy in the early part of the module which I’m really looking forward to. With this in mind, I had a quick look at the synopsis for Behn’s play Abdelazer (Wikipedia). There was a curious reference to an earlier play by Thomas Dekker, who I don’t know anything about.

To contrast this, I thought it would be interesting to think about the genre of comedy, and remembered there is a subgenre of the city comedy which I don’t know too much about (other than I know that Behn wrote a couple of plays that could be thought of in this genre). Dekker gets a mention in this summary, along with other playwrights: Jonson, Middleton, Heywood and Webster. I later realised that you have download the entire works of Dekker for practically next to nothing from a popular online book retailer.

There’s something else that is quite curious that I saw whilst browsing: the war of the theatres. A further click takes me to Project Gutenberg and a play by Ben Jonson.

I looked up Dekker on the BBC Sounds website. Nothing.

Do I have a topic for my MA? I have no idea.

I will trust the process.

15 June 2026

Following on from the previous entry, what follows is a set of links to various resources that look both useful and interesting.

There’s something called DraCor; a Drama Corpus. In a previous life, I worked alongside computational linguists and lexicographers, who used computers to analyse the use and change of language. DraCor can be analysed and interrogated. Interestingly, there does appear to be a recent conference by researchers who have started to study it.

Linked to DraCor is the EarlyPrint archive, which is also a corpus. Using it, you can download copies of early plays, which are saved in using the TEI-XML format. To convert TEI files into PDF files, you apparently need to use a tool called oXYgen. There must be a whole toolchain of tech tools that can be used to work with and manipulate TEI files. That might well be for another blog.

Onto a different type of resources: podcasts. I’ve been aware of Emma Smith’s podcasts about Shakespeare, but I was intrigued by a series called Not Shakespeare (Oxford University) . I’m gradually working though these, which are fascinating. Each podcast is very resource dense.

I’ve also found a series called The History of European Theatre which runs to a couple of hundred episodes. I’ve listened to only one episode so far. I would like to listen to every single one. The website contains a very impressive reading list. There’s also an app you can download.

This reminds me. I have another book on my shelves: A New Companion to Digital Humanities. I’ve started it, but I haven’t got very far.

I have a lot of listening (and reading) ahead of me.

19 June 2026

In my attempt to get ahead, I’ve finished reading The Moonstone. My concise critical evaluation is: ‘I quite liked it’.

I’ve started to read (and listen to) Milton’s Paradise Lost, which runs to 12 books, and ten hours of briskly read audio. I have a feeling that my concise critical evaluation might start with: ‘fancy; a lot of words’. I look forward to getting properly stuck in.

Yesterday I took delivery of a clutch of second hand books that I ordered after loosely deciding on my study pathway. Reflecting an earlier entry, I continue to be drawn to the early modern period.

24 June 2026

Whilst waiting for exam marking to arrive, I’ve managed to get up to book 8 of Paradise Lost. On a first reading (and listen), there are big chunks I don’t ‘get’ where I have no idea what is going on. For now, I’m just letting everything wash all over me.

I quite like it. It’s a beast of a book. Spending time with it is really emphasising the importance of story and fable.

29 June 2026

I’ve finally finished Paradise Lost. If anyone ever reads this, I really recommending reading it whilst listening to an audio book. Not only do you hear the rhythm of the language, it helps you to power through the mildest of distractions.

There’s a comment in the introduction of the Norton edition that begins to spell out the scale of the text: ‘Growing to understand Paradise Lost is a lifelong adventure. The same may be said of the rhythms’ (p.xvii). What I haven’t read is the multitude of footnotes the editor has left. I must, however, thank the previous owner of my book. Your light unreadable scribble has helped me to begin to understand some of the sections.

I reckon I understood about 60% of it. There are big chunks of it where I have no idea what is going on. I’m now curious about how the module materials are going to cover it.

Next up is Anita Desai’s The Complete Stories. I have no idea what I have in store, but my friend told me she has shortlisted for the booker prize a few times.

Over the last few years, whilst preparing to study a new English module, I’ve scrutinised the reading list, and have compiled annotated versions (without permission from the various module teams, I must add) to help me to learn more about what I have coming up.

What follows is an annotated reading list for MA English literature part 1. Each text is referenced using the Harvard referencing format (rather than the format used on the OU website). Where possible, links to any digital alternatives that might be available.

This list appears to be intimidating, but the module website offers a bit of guidance: “four of these set books are core texts that all students study. You'll also choose one of three strands of study in each block, with three texts in each strand, which means you'll study 13 of these set books in total.” Students choose different strands from each of the blocks, depending on interests and aspirations. The module materials offers a bit of guidance about the possible choices.

Core texts

Everyone is required to read the following:

Collins, W. (2019) The Moonstone. Oxford World’s Classics. Edited by F. O’Gorman.  ISBN 9780198819394.

Also available from Project Gutenberg: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

Conrad, J. (2016) Heart of Darkness. Norton Critical Edition (5th edition). Edited by Paul B. Armstrong. ISBN 9780393264869.

A version without accompanying critical essays is available from Project Gutenberg: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Desai, A. (2018) The Complete Stories. Vintage Classics. ISBN 9781784706647

Milton, J. (2020) Paradise Lost. Norton Critical Edition (2nd edition). Edited by Gordon Teskey. ISBN 9780393617085.

As with the Conrad text, a version without accompanying critical essays is available from Project Gutenberg: Paradise Lost by John Milton.

When using Amazon to view information about the Norton Critical Editions you might be directed to a Kindle edition. This Kindle edition is different to the Norton editions and does not contain the accompanying essays, as the link might imply.

Block 1: Literature and the Popular

Strand 1: Books and Readers

Eliot, G. (2019) Middlemarch. Oxford World's Classics. Edited by David Carroll and David Russell. ISBN 9780198815518.

Available from Project Gutenberg: Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Gaskell, E. (2008) North and South. Oxford World's Classics. Edited by Angus Easson. ISBN 9780199537006.

Available from Project Gutenberg: North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell.

Hawthorne, N. (2008) Young Goodman Brown and Other Tales. Oxford Word’s Classics. Edited by Brian Harding. ISBN 9780199555154.

The story Young Goodman Brown can be found in Project Gutenberg: Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Other stories can be found in Twice-told tales. The story Ethan Brand can be found in Little Masterpieces.

Strand 2: Form and Genre

Aristotle (2013) Poetics. Oxford Word’s Classics. Edited by Antony Kenny. ISBN 9780199608362.

Available from Project Gutenberg: The Poetics of Aristotle.

Hughes, D.B. (2010) In a Lonely Place. Penguin Modern Classics. ISBN 9780141192314.

Shakespeare, W. (2008) The History of King Lear. Oxford Word’s Classics. Edited by Stanley Wells. ISBN 9780199535828.

Available from Project Gutenberg: King Lear by William Shakespeare along with a version of the complete works.

Strand 3: History and Context

Anonymous (1976) Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An): An Authentic Eighteenth-Century Detective Novel. Dover Publications Inc. Edited by Robert van Gulik. ISBN 9780486233376.

Poe, E. A. (2004) The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Norton Critical Edition. Edited by G. R. Thompson. ISBN 9780393972856.

A significant number of eBooks are available on Project Gutenberg: Books by Poe, Edgar Allan.

Christie, A. (2010) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. HarperCollins.

Available from Project Gutenberg: The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. 

The ISBN that was specified for the Christie novel unexpectedly refers to the Turkish edition which appears to be unobtainable. I have no idea whether this is deliberate or unintentional. Alternative versions are, of course, available.

Block 2: Literature and Revolution

Strand 1: Books and Readers

Gibson, W. (2011) Pattern Recognition. Penguin. ISBN 9780241953532.

von Goethe, J. W. (1989) The Sorrows of Young Werther. Penguin Classics. Translated by Michael Hulse. ISBN 9780140445039.

Available from Project Gutenberg: The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Since this is a translation, it is worth noting that this version is likely to be substantially different from the recommended text.

Strand 2: Form and Genre

Dickinson, E. (2016) Poems as She Preserved Them. Harvard University Press. Edited by Christine Miller. ISBN 9780674737969. 

Available from Project Gutenberg: Books by Dickinson, Emily.

Harrison, T. (2013) Selected Poems. Penguin. ISBN 9780241964842.

Strand 3: History and Context

James, C. L. R. (2012) Toussaint Louverture. The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History. A Play in Three Acts. Duke University Press. Edited by Christian Høgsbjerg. ISBN 9780822353140.

This is a critical edition. A related resource appears on Project Gutenberg: St. Domingo, its revolution and its hero, Toussaint Louverture.

Wordsworth, W. (1979) The Prelude: 1799, 1805, 1850. ISBN 9780393090710. Norton Critical Edition. Edited by M. H. Abrams and Stephen Gill.

A version of the Prelude is available in the following Project Gutenberg resource: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 (of 8) by William Wordsworth. The Norton edition is likely to be significant since I understand from earlier studies that there were different editions of the text.

Godwin, W. (2009) Caleb Williams. Oxford World Classics. Edited by Pamela Clemit. ISBN 9780199232062.

Available from Project Gutenberg: Caleb Williams; Or, Things as They Are by William Godwin.

Block 3: Literature and the Global

Strand 1: Books and Readers

Barbusse, H. (2014) Under Fire. Penguin Modern Classics. ISBN 9780141393438.

Available from Project Gutenberg: Under Fire: The Story of a Squad by Henri Barbusse. This version may be different from the Penguin version, since the text is a translation.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o (2002) A Grain of Wheat. Penguin Modern Classics. ISBN 9780141186993.

Strand 2: Form and Genre

Chekhov, A. (2008) About Love and Other Stories. Translated from Russian by Rosamund Bartlett. Oxford World’s Classics. ISBN 9780199536689.

Available from Project Gutenberg: Love, and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. As with other texts, this version is likely to be different to the officially recommended version.

Levi, P. (2012) The Periodic Table. Penguin Essentials. ISBN 9780241956816.

Adichie, C. N. (2017) The Thing Around Your Neck. Fourth Estate. ISBN 9780007306213.

Strand 3: History and Context

Clare, J. (2008) Major Works. Edited by Eric Robinson, David Powell and Tom Paulin. Oxford World’s Classics. ISBN 9780199549795.

There appear to be three collections of Clare’s poetry available from Project Gutenberg, including an audio version, and Poems by John Clare.

Shamsie, K. (2018) Home Fire. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408886793.

Reflections

The strands that are summarised above don’t appear to be complete. I’m not exactly sure why this is the case. Spenser is mentioned in the module preamble, but not within the reading list. I guess we’ll find out.

Over the summer, I’m going to try to get through the core texts, probably leaving the Collins text until the end of my holiday (since it’s quite a big one). I might also look into whether there’s an audio book version to keep me company on long drives.

When looking for low priced texts, I start with big online bookstore such as Worldofbooks, followed by eBay (where you can just copy/paste the ISBN number into the search bar), followed by Amazon. I think might Google the ISBN number, which then might take me to a publisher’s site.

Whilst I was an undergraduate, I sometimes used a combination of digital and paper texts. On a number of occasions, I’ve used both. When it comes to electronic texts, I’ve always found the Project Gutenberg texts particularly helpful. The printed Norton Critical Editions are also very helpful.

At a first glance, this reading list looks terrifying. It is also one that offers a diverse set of riches. I’m intrigued by the inclusion of a Gibson text. I was in my late teens when I first discovered Gibson’s most famous novel, Neuromancer, which I have since hauled between flats and houses, it’s pages now yellowed.

All the strands look interesting, but some look more interesting than others. I’m drawn to the Forms and Genre strand, but since I’m interested in early modern writing, I’m also attracted to the History and Context strand. This said, I really don’t like Wordsworth’s Prelude, having been introduced to it in a previous module. Which way will I jump? I think I’ll look to the preferred path, and figure it all out from there.

Acknowledgements

This reading list has been edited from the information that is available on the A893 module summary page.

What follows is a disclaimer: I have no connection with the module team, and it is entirely possible that this reading list may change at any point. Always rely on the recommendations from module teams and tutors, rather than anything that I say on any of my blogs.