On the Avenue of the Mystery: The Postwar Counterculture in Novels and Film

This book explores the comparison of eight major novels from the postwar period (1945-65) with their film adaptations from 1985-2012, offering a historical reassessment of the global counterculture of 1965-75. It argues that the experience of mystery and its decline is central to the novels and films and is a key feature of the period of cultural transformation they bookend.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 21 October 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive volume delves into a captivating exploration of eight significant novels from the postwar period (1945-65), meticulously coupled with the films adapted from them during a subsequent period spanning approximately three decades, bridging the millennium (1985-2012). By comparing these literary masterpieces with their cinematic counterparts, the reader is presented with a unique opportunity to undertake a historical reassessment not only of the novels themselves but also of the vibrant global counterculture that flourished during the years 1965-75. These films, emerging more than a decade after the waning of the counterculture and in some cases, even fifty years after the novels upon which they are based, showcase significant revisions and omissions driven by the profound historical and cultural transformations that have occurred in the intervening years. While these changes are frequently perceived in purely political terms, this book contends that the experience of mystery and its gradual decline holds a central place within the novels and films, serving as a defining characteristic of the period of cultural transformation that they encapsulate.

Conceived as a multifaceted work of literary criticism, film studies, and cultural history, this book possesses the potential to captivate both an academic audience and a broader readership, who have long been captivated by these novels and the broader fascination with reevaluating the era of the global counterculture. Chapters 1 and 2 of this remarkable volume are graciously made available as downloadable Open Access PDFs, graciously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This license allows for unrestricted access, distribution, and reproduction of the content, provided that it is attributed to the author and not used for commercial purposes.

To access these chapters, please visit the following link: http://www.taylorfrancis.com. Embark on a journey through the intersection of literature and cinema, where the words of the authors come to life on the silver screen, and the visual representations enrich our understanding of these timeless literary works.

Weight: 689g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032363417