Literature : Why It Matters

'Facts alone are wanted in life, ' exclaims Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Dickens' Hard Times . Literature is not about facts alone, and - despite two and a half thousand years of arguments - no one can agree on what it is, or how to study it. But, argues Robert Eaglestone, it is precisely the open-ended nature of literature that makes it such a rewarding and useful subject. Eaglestone shows that studying literature can change who you are, turning you from a 'reader' into a 'critic' someone attuned to the ways we make meaning in our world. Literature is a living conversation which provides endless opportunities to rethink and reinterpret our societies and ourselves. With examples ranging from Sappho to Skyrim , this book shows how literature offers freer and deeper ways of thinking and being.