The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Major Authors: One-Volume Edition, Seventh Edition (with Media Companion)

Rating:
Summary: Consequences of a rich literature
Review: I had to buy this book for school and although I haven't had to read all of it (with almost 3000 pages this is no real surprise), I have some idea of the content. This is the one-volume edition, but I think it gives a good global view of English literature. Starting at the very beginning (Beowulf etc.) and ending with major contemporary authors such as Salman Rushdie, this book gives an extensive introduction to each literary period. The book doesn't contain only fragments of texts, sometimes the entire text is given. All this comes with footnotes clarifying things and other sections providing extra information.
As a foreign student of English I experienced some difficulty with the introductions; the structure wasn't always clear, but of course it could be just me. :-) As a whole I think this is a useful anthology for students, but I would still like to make a few practical remarks. This book being of considerable size and weight, it is not very handy to read for example in an easy chair or in bed; furthermore it is not self-evident to take it with you wherever you go. It also has very thin paper which makes marking certain passages (for study purposes etc.) a bit tricky if not impossible.