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." |
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... keeps some distance from it , retaining the perspec- tive of Greek or eternity even while the manacles bite into his ... keep most writers from ever beginning . Nor can one overlook the mourn- ful truth he emphasized in London : “ SLOW ...
... keep secret : none of us is alone or unique in guilt . Nor does any mortal have much reason to envy another . " One of the great arts of escaping superfluous uneasiness , is to free our minds from the habit of comparing our condition ...
... keep the line and a half in mind . Lady Macbeth soon overwhelms her hus- band's scruples , persuading him that his lack of daring has been un- manly , and what sticks in the memory tends to be the amazing heartlessness with which she ...
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
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