Samuel JohnsonHarvard University Press, 1998 - 372 pages He was a servant to the public, a writer for hire. He was a hero, an author adding to the glory of his nation. But can a writer be both hack and hero? The career of Samuel Johnson, recounted here by Lawrence Lipking, proves that the two can be one. And it further proves, in its enduring interest for readers, that academic fashions today may be a bit hasty in pronouncing the "death of the author." |
From inside the book
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... expect gives way to a sedentary old philosopher . Johnson both admits and makes fun of his own somber cast of thought . At one point he uses it for an especially clever finesse on his reputa- tion . In the famous No. 59 on Suspirius the ...
... expect that age will perform the promises of youth , and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow ; attend to the history of Rasselas prince of Abissinia . " This story clearly aims to dash our hopes . Yet ...
... Johnson has reached a stage of life when he can expect to accumulate credit and honors . Like a general reviewing his troops , he counts the orderly rows of his works and his years ( " operum 237 Journey to the Western Islands.
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
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