The Mechanic Muse

One of America's most celebrated critics here brings his customary wit and erudition to bear on a particularly provocative theme: the response of literary Modernism to a changing environment wrought by technology. In the early decades of the twentieth century, Hugh Kenner, observes, technology "tended to engulf people gradually, coercing behavior they were not aware of." The Modernist writers were sensitive to technological change, however, and throughout their works are reflections of this fact. Kenner shows, for example, how Eliot's lines "One thinks of all the hands/That are raising dingy shades/In a thousand furnished rooms" suggest the advent of the alarm clock and, beyond that, what the clocks enabled: "the new world of the commuter, in which a principal event was waking up in the morning under the obligation to get yourself somewhere else, and arrive there on time.
In fascinating examinations of Pound, Joyce, and Beckett, in addition to Eliot, Kenner looks at how inventions as various as the linotype, the typewriter, the subway, and the computer altered the way the world was viewed and depicted. Whether discussing Joyce's acute awareness of the nuances of typesetting or Beckett's experiments with a "proto-computer-language," Kenner consistently illuminates in fresh new ways the works of these authors and offers, almost incidentally, a wealth of anecdotes and asides that will delight the general reader and the literary specialist alike.

One of America's most celebrated and distinguished critics examines the response of literary Modernism to environmental changes caused by technology.

With his customary wit and erudition, one of America's most celebrated and distinguished critics examines the response of literary Modernism to environmental changes caused by technology.
Focusing on Eliot, Pound, Joyce, and Beckett, Hugh Kenner explores how inventions as various as the linotype, the typewriter, the subway, and the computer altered the way these writers viewed and depicted the world. Whether discussing Joyce's acute awareness of the nuances of typesetting or Beckett's experiments with a "proto-computer-language," Kenner consistently approaches the works of these authors from fresh angles and offers a wealth of anecdotes and asides that will delight both the general reader and the literary specialist.

Library Journal

In five essays and an epilogue, Kenner demonstrates the varied responses of literary High Modernism to the development of technology. The mechanical inventions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries irrevocably altered human perception and action. Kenner shows how Eliot, Pound, Joyce, and Beckett responded to those alterations, not only in their choice of subject matter but in the very nature of the language and structures they used. Whether discussing Eliot's urban commuters, Joyce's negotiations with print technology, or Beckett's invention of a ``proto-computer-language,'' Kenner is both learned and playful, teasing ideas out of a wealth of fascinating detail. Highly recommended. Michael Hennessy, English Dept., Southwest Texas State Univ., San Marcos

About the Author:
Hugh Kenner is Professor of English at The Johns Hopkins University and author of many books, including A Colder Eye: The Modern Irish Writers, The Pound Era, and The Invisible Poet: T.S. Eliot.