Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Sample

  • Retroland

  • A Reader's Guide to the Dazzling Diversity of Modern Fiction
  • By: Peter Kemp
  • Narrated by: Keval Shah
  • Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
  • 3.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Retroland

By: Peter Kemp
Narrated by: Keval Shah
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Julia cover art
The Modern Myths cover art
Encounter cover art
Colonialism cover art
The Glass Pearls cover art
Mary Shelley cover art
Émile Zola cover art
Monster, She Wrote cover art
The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov cover art
Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1) cover art
The Life of Crime cover art
So Late in the Day cover art
The Heroine with 1001 Faces cover art
Written cover art
Follow the Money cover art

Summary

The essential companion for lovers of the contemporary novel

Over the past fifty years, fiction in English has never looked more various. Books bulkier than Victorian three-deckers appear alongside works of minimalist brevity, and experiments with form have produced everything from verse novels to Twitter-thread narratives. This is truly a golden age.

But what unites this kaleidoscopic array of genres and styles?

Celebrated writer and critic Peter Kemp shows how modern writers are obsessed with the past. In a series of engaging and illuminating chapters, Retroland traces this novelistic preoccupation with history, from the imperial and the political to the personal and the literary.

Featuring famous names from across the United Kingdom, United States, and the wider Anglophone world, ranging from Salman Rushdie to Sarah Waters, Toni Morrison to Hilary Mantel, this is a work of remarkable synthesis and clarity—an enjoyably opinionated guide to our current literary landscape.
©2023 Peter Kemp (P)2023 Tantor
Literary History & Criticism European
Show More Show Less

What listeners say about Retroland

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 1 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for SueA

Let down by narrator

I have never been moved to review on the basis of a narrator but this is appalling. Despite the well-modulated tones, the narrator is ignorant of many pronunciations and the emphasis and phrasing imply a complete lack of comprehension of the text. It’s a real shame as the book is worth a listen.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful