Speaking in Symbols (Reader)

Fantasy, Gothic, Science Fiction, Mystery, and Detective: these genres are currently all the rage in twenty-first–century America. A quick look at the current best-sellers about vampires and whatnot will be proof enough. But everything sold in today’s bookshops, although somewhat enter­taining, is not necessarily good. There is virtually only one proof of literary legitimacy—the test of time—and most of the works contained in this anthology have with­stood that test. ¶ This work seeks to do several things. First, it attempts to show the very origins of imaginative works through the stories of oral tradition, and thus introduces the “core” of all good modern fantasy works. It also attempts to show the connection that the various genres have with one another. Finally, this anthology encourages student readers to penetrate the mere enter­tainment value of a good story in order to under­stand its deeper levels of meaning.