Samuel Johnson: The Life of an AuthorHarvard University Press, 2009 M07 1 - 384 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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... genius " or " subject " whose unique talents originate and authorize the work . Such empha- sis on individual will perpetuates at best a pleasing myth if not a tyran- nical lie . Whether or not one agrees with this critique , one can ...
... genius is original invention " and that Paradise Lost " is not the great- est of heroick poems , only because it is not the first . " Yet the Dictio- nary refuses to discriminate the work of authors from the work of writers in general ...
... genius and truth . Similarly , in Johnson's terms , knowing an author requires some study of the historical context , not in order to merge the author with his background but precisely in order to determine what powers are his own ...
... genius , transmitted through language in a living tradition ; every native speaker of English pays tribute to them and borrows their luster . Since " the chief glory of every people arises from its authours , " the national interest ...
... genius , and retrospectively the work of genius never looks adventitious . In some way Johnson must have chosen his life as an author . But what did he choose ? The question may be clarified by being posed in terms of John- son's ...
Contents
11 | |
34 | |
48 | |
Preferments Gate The Vanity of Human Wishes | 86 |
Man of Letters A Dictionary of the English Language | 103 |
The Living World The Rambler | 145 |
Reclaiming Imagination Rasselas | 173 |
The Theater of Mind The Plays of William Shakespeare | 198 |
Journeying Westward Political Writings A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
Touching the Shore The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
The Life to Come Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Abbreviation | 307 |
Notes | 309 |
Index | 363 |