Present Regarding Books The Life of Samuel Johnson
Title | : | The Life of Samuel Johnson |
Author | : | James Boswell |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | First Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 1344 pages |
Published | : | January 11th 1993 by Everyman's Library (first published 1790) |
Categories | : | Biography. Classics. Nonfiction. History. Literature. 18th Century |
Explanation To Books The Life of Samuel Johnson
Poet, lexicographer, critic, moralist and Great Cham, Dr. Johnson had in his friend Boswell the ideal biographer.Notoriously and self-confessedly intemperate, Boswell shared with Johnson a huge appetite for life and threw equal energy into recording its every aspect in minute but telling detail. This irrepressible Scotsman was 'always studying human nature and making experiments', and the marvelously vivacious Journals he wrote daily furnished him with first-rate material when he came to write his biography.
The result is a masterpiece that brims over with wit, anecdote and originality. Hailed by Macaulay as the best biography ever written and by Carlyle as a book 'beyond any other product of the eighteenth century', The Life of Samuel Johnson today continues to enjoy its status as a classic of the language.
This shortened version is based on the 1799 edition, the last in which the author had a hand.
Specify Books Supposing The Life of Samuel Johnson
Original Title: | The Life of Samuel Johnson |
ISBN: | 0679417176 (ISBN13: 9780679417170) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Samuel Johnson, James Boswell |
Setting: | United Kingdom,1770 |
Rating Regarding Books The Life of Samuel Johnson
Ratings: 3.92 From 3067 Users | 234 ReviewsWrite-Up Regarding Books The Life of Samuel Johnson
The best way to read Boswell's Life of Johnson is this way: via a somewhat cheesy, "classic library" volume of a Great Classics type of series. The book looks like one of those books you would find in the movie set of a lawyer's office, trying to look distinguished and old, although it feels plasticy.We learn from other sources (outside of Boswell) that Boswell himself was something of an annoying 18th century star f__ker, but thank God he was - because reading this book is like being a part ofThe ultimate non-fiction book. Just plain great. For me, this is beach-reading.
Reading Boswell's Life of Johnson is something I've long aspired to do, and now that I'm retired, I took the time to wade through it. I learned a great deal about the 18th century from Johnson (through Boswell), including fascinating insights into John Wesley, George Whitefield, and the Methodists, from Boswell's point of view. Worth a reading, if that century is of interest to you.
Actually, I dip in and out of this one (over 30 years!) and I find it delightful & very funny.
Whew! Nearly four months, already? The thing about insanely long books like this one (1300pp of tiny, tiny type!) is that if you have at most an hour or two to read each day, you really do live with them over time and they become almost a part of the family. You have your little spats with them, they say the most insane or embarrassing things sometimes, but deep down you feel this unbreakable connection and find that you can't do without them, and as I imagine my mom saying to us at Xmas
When you major in what is called "English" at college, certain inconvenient figures present themselves. One is Ben Jonson who is inconvenient because it is so much more rewarding and taxing to spend your time on Shakespeare, although Jonson also was a major dramatist during Shakespeare's day.Another inconvenient figure is William Blake, the poet often grouped with the "Romantics," but clearly not one of them and a study unto himself, sui generis, one of a kind. If you're going to study Blake,
I recently included a "bucket book" in my line-up of books I am reading. These are books I really ought to have read by this time in my life, but which, alas, I have not. This book, The Life of Samuel Johnson, was the first in this roster that I have completed. Having done so, it continues to strike me as a really good idea.Boswell mentions near the end of the book that those who took the time to read "may be considered as well acquainted with him." I think this is quite true, and gaining the
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