Part Two: Reflections on the Sequel

David E. Kemp, a former drama professor at Queen’s University, is the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

The 13 papers that make up this fascinating collection are drawn from
the research fields of 18th-century English print culture and
late–20th-century film. What these two very different fields have in
common is a preoccupation with the sequel. The book explores a multitude
of intriguing questions. For example, what factors common to Samuel
Richardson’s Pamela and James Cameron’s The Terminator led to the
creation of a sequel in both cases?

The book also suggests that the sequel has become an essential part of
Western storytelling, whether in the medium of print or film. The
exploration of material as diverse as Milton’s Paradise Regained, Lucy
Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Avonlea, Sam Raimi’s 1987 film Evil Dead
Part 11, and Anthony Trollope’s Phineas Redux is highly stimulating.

Paul Budra’s “Recurrent Monsters” and June Sturrock’s
“Popular Fiction Market of the 1850s and 1860s” are noteworthy.

The papers vary with respect to accessibility. Some general readers may
find that a little postmodern analysis goes a long way. All in all,
though, this is an invigorating collection.