§16§Keith Brown's literary essays, published at intervals over the course of a long career, are marked by their engaging flair and independence from intellectual fashion. They often explore aspects of the interaction of craftsmanship and ideas that are unnoticed or ignored in the mainstream of critical debate. However, the full potential of his approach only emerges when these essays are taken together. A notable concern of Brown's critical method is to uncover the latent organising principles - naturally as various as the author's intentions - that lie beneath the surface of any worthwhile extended literary work. His 'sightings' reveal the actual contours of literary landscapes seen dimly before. §04§Contents: Moral Quality versus Moral Content - 'Form and Cause Conjoin'd': Hamlet and Shakespeare's Workshop - Polonius, and Fortinbras: and Hamlet? - Hamlet's Place on the Map - Construction and Significance in Shakespearean Drama - Shakespeare's Master Piece? - 'More light, more light!' - Visualising Hobbes - A Short Course of the Belles Lettres for Keatsians? - Art for Ernest's Sake - An Offering to the Goddess: Mrs. Dalloway on Mount Caburn - Welsh Red Indians: D. H. Lawrence and St. Mawr - Dealing with Durrell. §13§"... Brown is an ardent critical detective, working on analogies with music, painting, architecture and cartography, in order to discover the hidden template within a work. ... 'Sightings' is a valuable celebration of an honorable career." (Philip Davis, The Times Literary Supplement) §02§The Author: Keith Brown studied English at the University of Cambridge and then taught for some years at McGill University, while also taking a second degree in philosophy. This brought him briefly back to University College London, before he moved to the University of Oslo in 1963 where he is now an emeritus professor.§ The Editor: Erik Tonning is a member of the English Faculty at the University of Oxford. His Samuel Beckett's Abstract Drama: Works for Stage and Screen 1962-1985 was published by Peter Lang in 2007.
