I need help! with this book?

Question

Does anybody knows where i can find the summary of the book of Barbara Comyns "Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead". Please. I need.

Answer 1

There is one review on Amazon that may help http://www.amazon.com/Who-Was-Changed-Dead/dp/0860686779/ref=sr_1_1/104-2324452-6529567?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194821889&sr=1-1

There is also one review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/19976/reviews

I hope that helps. I couldn't find it on sparknotes or bookrags.

Answer 2

This is all I could find - hope it helps some.

"Barbara Comyns' Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead.
Barbara Comyns wrote a fabulous 1955 novel called Who Was Changed, and Who Was Dead about a 1927 ergot poisoning outbreak in Manchester, England. Those of you who are more knowledgeable than I will have spotted that the title is from The Fire of Drift-Wood by Longfellow.

We spake of many a vanished scene,
Of what we once had thought and said,
Of what had been, and might have been,
And who was changed, and who was dead;

The only other Comyns I've read was Our Spoons Came From Woolworths, so she certainly has a way with titles. I bought Who Was Changed... a few years ago, partly because I'd quite enjoyed Our Spoons Came From Woolworths, partly because the mix of a Virago paperback and an interesting cover piqued my interest. Had I turned to the first sentence, I daresay I'd have read the novel much sooner: 'The ducks swan through the drawing-room windows.' How can you not want to read on?

The novel opens with a flood, and things get stranger and stranger. If I were to choose one word to describe this novel it would be "surreal" - but surreal in a very grounded manner. Exactly like the cover illustration, actually; part of 'Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta: Dinner on the Hotel Lawn' by Stanley Spencer. Throughout the events (which I don't want to spoil for you) Comyns weaves a very real, earthy, witty portrait of a village - especially the Willoweed family. A cantankerous old lady who won't step on land she doesn't own, Grandmother Willoweed, rules over her docile son, Ebin, and his young children Emma, Hattie and Dennis. Grandmother W is a truly brilliant creation - without the slightest feeling for anybody around her, she is still amusing rather than demonic. For some reason this novel was banned in Ireland upon publication in 1954 - perhaps for the occasional unblenching descriptions, but these are easily skipped if you, like me, can be a bit squeamish."

"In a small village a flood causes some death for animals and humans. The bizarre nature of a small English village flames out as the first deaths are followed by more and more of an increasingly disturbed and shocking nature. The realistic depictions of death and violence make the few acts of love and humor stand out in the novel. The novel challenges our respect for death, showing us how the thrust for life and a person's deep immersion in their own living enables us to resist horror and death. Is this hypocritical, practical, heartbreaking, or admirable? We are challenged, amused, shocked, and disgusted in this short but transforming read."

Answer 3

go to www. google.ca. type in the name of your book.
ex. Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead summary.

Answer 4

These links will give you a chapter by chapter summary of the book, character analysis, plot and much more, so that you will be able to answer literary questions.

Study Guides and Summaries:

http://www.literaturesummary.com/

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/

http://www.studylit.com/

http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/works.htm

http://www.antistudy.com/

http://www.freebooknotes.com/

http://www.free-booknotes.com/

http://sparknotes.com/