Some may argue that the term ＂twentieth- century epic novel＂ is an oxymoron, but Steinberg (English, State U. of New York, Fredonia) makes the case that certain works do in fact meet the
requirements for the genre, at least in essence, because the genre itself is constantly evolving. Calling on Asch’s Three Cities, Manning’s Fortunes of War, Scott’s Raj Quartet, Whittemore’s
Jerusalem Quartet and Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, Steinberg proves that they qualify as epics in terms of their contents and themes. In fact, the evolution of the essence of the heroic which
is at the core of the genre is as important an element in these modern works as it is in the evolution within the genre Milton sought in Paradise Lost. Distributed by Associated University
Presses. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
