Gilbert Keith Chesterton was among the world's most prolific writers who incorporated relentless logic, wonderful humor, and a clear view of truth into an amazing tool for exposing the foolishness of the policies of the world around him through the device of paradox.
It is always great fun, and certainly always a learning experience to read Chesterton. A Miscellany of Men may be his hardest work to define, as it deals with a huge array of issues, using "personal types" as illustration. It would only be bewildering, if there was not these common threads: First that these types still exist, and the same faulty reasoning applies to issues of our day, and second, that underlying all of this is a firm and reasoned defense of democracy in a sense very close to that of the American Founding Fathers.
A controversial lecturer and famous orator of the mid 1800's, Ingersoll railed against the absurdities of the Bible and cruelties of orthodox Christianity, tirelessly supported the arts, education, science, women’s rights, abolition, home, family, children, and human liberty, whose creed was: “Happiness is the only good, Reason the only torch, Justice the only worship, Humanity the only religion, and Love the only priest.” He was often attacked from the pulpit and in the press. Here are 30 more published interviews (from among hundreds), in which Ingersoll spoke extemporaneously, bitingly, sometimes hilariously, on a wide range of topics, with newspaper reporters of the day. (Compiled from The Works Of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume 8, Dresden Edition, Pub. 1900. Summary by Michele Fry
Proof-listening was done by both readers in each duet.
A series of essays by Members of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society with a preface by William Morris who writes "It is this conscious cultivation of art and the attempt to interest the public in it which the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society has set itself to help, by calling special attention to that really most important side of art, the decoration of utilities by furnishing them with genuine artistic finish in place of trade finish." The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was formed in London in 1887 to promote the exhibition of decorative arts alongside fine arts.
“These papers were originally published as prefaces to the separate books of Dickens in one of the most extensive of those cheap libraries of the classics which are one of the real improvements of recent times. Thus they were harmless, being diluted by, or rather drowned in Dickens. My scrap of theory was a mere dry biscuit to be taken with the grand tawny port of great English comedy; and by most people it was not taken at all--like the biscuit.
Nevertheless the essays were not in intention so aimless as they appear in fact. I had a general notion of what needed saying about Dickens to the new generation, though probably I did not say it. I will make another attempt to do so in this prologue, and, possibly fail again."
A collection of amusing essays satirizing serious consideration of topics including natural history, social etiquette, or indeed, civilized behavior (especially of the upper classes).
"Mother Earth was an American anarchist journal that described itself as "A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Social Science and Literature". Founded in early 1906 and initially edited by Emma Goldman, an activist in the United States, it published articles by contemporary activists and writers in Europe as well as the US, in addition to essays by historic figures." This is Volume 1 of the series. This is the second number of the magazine.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution is an account of what happened in Prussia, Austria and other German states during 1848, describing the impact on both middle-class and working-class aspirations and on the idea of German unification. Events in Austria and Prussia are discussed, along with the role of the Poles and Czechs and Panslavism, which Engels was against.
Lafcadio Hearn, born 1850 in Greece, went to Japan when he was 40 years old and became a Japanese citizen only 6 years later. His writings about Japan from the beginning of the Meiji era, when the country was just opening to the West, remain among the most important explanations of Japanese culture.
This book contains in the first part, "Exotics", his observations of and personal insights into Japan. For example, Fuji no Yama tells about him climbing the highest mountain in Japan; and A Question in the Zen Texts, Literature of the Dead, and Of Moon Desire try to explain Buddhist teachings. In the second part, "Retrospectives", Hearn leaves both Japan and his vantage point as impartial observer behind and delves into personal experiences and musings that occurred to him in the numerous countries he visited. The main topic of these very personal pieces is beauty in all its forms.
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan is a collection of essays by Lafcadio Hearn detailing his first impressions of the country he found so fascinating he decided to stay there for the rest of his life. In these essays and recollections he expresses his curiosity, bewilderment, and marvel at Japanese tradition, culture and lifestyle. Lafcadio Hearn is best known as the most notable person to introduce Japan to the West. He produced about thirty works, including translations, retellings of folktales, and travelogues.
Readers of George MacDonald are used to his engaging story-telling, winsome characters, and simple theology of trust in God as Father. But this book shows a different side of MacDonald. A Dish of Orts is a varied collection of essays, mostly in the nature of literary criticism. These essays are, in MacDonald's words, "but fragmentary presentments of larger meditation."
In an introductory paragraph, Lafcadio Hearn declares his intention: "The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). Written with the above character, this word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, just as we say in English, "the heart of things."" The result is a highly eclectic collection of stories, diary entries, cultural essays, and collected traditional texts that illustrate not only the state of Japanese society in the 1890s but also the endlessly fascinating issue of the intersection of cultures as demonstrated in a Westerner's interpretations of what he observed in Japan. As much is revealed about the Western mind as the Japanese mind whenever such an intersection occurs.
“Extreme busyness…is a symptom of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity.”
What comforting words for the idle among us! Like many of the best essayists, Stevenson is very much the genial fireside companion: opinionated, but never malicious; a marvellous practitioner of the inclusive monologue.
In this collection of nine pieces he discusses the art of appreciating unattractive scenery, traces the complex social life of dogs, and meditates in several essays upon the experience of reading literature and writing it. Perhaps his most personal passages concern death and mortality. Here we meet him at his most undogmatically optimistic, as he affirms a wholesome faith in “the liveableness of Life”.
A collection of 13 essays written between 1900 and 1908, published in 1910. The lead essay, "Revolution", outlines how and why London renounced capitalism as a failed social system and declared himself an active participant in the "socialist revolution", the last essay is an autobiographical piece, and the essays in between are on diverse subjects. A few of the “essays” are actually humorous short fiction stories; others are serious, sometimes angry rants against capitalistic greed and political corruption. All of the pieces are thought-provoking and excellently written, though only loosely intellectual, highly opinionated, and rife with contradiction, as was London himself. -
Best known as a poet and playwright, Nobel Laureate T.S. Eliot also wrote many works of literary criticism. In this volume he gives us three essays: John Dryden, The Metaphysical Poets, and Andrew Marvell. Many quotations are given to illustrate his observations and analysis of these poets. This is an important work for those interested in gaining a deeper and broader knowledge of these seventeenth century poets and their influence.
Although best known for his works of science fiction, social commentary and history, H.G. Wells here gives us humorous and light-hearted pieces on a wide variety of intriguing topics from chess to death. Each essay is a gem of wit and delight.
Alice Meynell was an English essayist, critic, and poet who was also a leading suffragist, serving as vice-president of the Women Writers' Suffrage League. She and her husband Wilfrid Meynell were active in publishing and editing literary works including helping to launch the first works of Francis Thompson, author of "Hound of Heaven." This is a diverse collection of essays ranging from reflections on The Sun, and The Flower to the literary figures of Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell.
Even before the Great War turned the world upside down, Western civilization was being revolutionized at all levels: intellectually, philosophically, artistically. Noted positivist philosopher George Santayana published this volume on the eve of the War, trying to portray the status of philosophy and theology at that moment by analyzing six significant topics:
1. the intellectual "temper" of the age
2. the clash between Modernism and Christianity
3. the new idealism of Henri Bergson
4. the new skepticism of Bertrand Russell
5. Shelley's fusion of philosophy and poetry
6. the so-called "genteel" tradition in American philosophy.
We have felt that the most fitting tribute that we, of the Anti-Caste movement, can pay to the memory of this noble and faithful life is to issue broadcast—as far as the means entrusted to us will allow—his last great appeal for justice (uttered through the pages of “The A.M.E. Church Review” only a few months before his death). A slanderous charge against Negro morality has gone forth throughout the world and has been widely credited. The white American has had his say both North and South. On behalf of the accused, Frederick Douglass claims, in the name of justice, to be heard. (From the introduction)
From the pen of the Irish poet and essayist, Robert Lynd, comes a collection of humorous and satirical essay on the literary scene of his day with critiques of poets and and poetry, ranging from Pepys to Walter de la Mare. He even examines criticism itself.
Powys presents a set of literary devotions of great figures in Literature who have obsessed him. He attempts not so much a reasoned critique or any attempt to categorise these figures but rather, as he describes in the Preface: "to give [himself] up, absolutely and completely, to the various visions and temperaments of these great dead artists." Powys delivered popular lectures throughout the United States and was able to hold audiences in rapt attention for hours while speaking about great literature and writers, this book from the earlier part of his writing career gives us a little glimpse into what those lectures must have been like.
We join our thoughtful author on a dreamy stroll at dusk through the English countryside, and listen to his nonchalant, slightly scattered musings on the human condition...everything from loafing about and old book collecting, to heavier topics like what is more valuable: memory or forgetfulness and can we connect back to nature, or is it too late to do so. All these ponderings, and more, are explored within. Published in 1898, this collection of essays is Kenneth Grahame's first complied work. His wry and witty humor, which later would be celebrated in his famous novel, The Wind in the Willows, shines through here.
Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, one of the greatest orators of the mid-19th century, was a highly sought after lecturer/toastmaster who sold out every hall he engaged throughout America. He was an ardent abolitionist, agnostic, humanist, humanitarian, supporter of the arts, and woman's rights, and member of the Unitarian Church, who railed against the absurdities of the Bible and cruelties of Christianity, praised technology, inventors, authors and great statemen for their contributions to the uplift of mankind. Mark Twain, a contemporary of Ingersoll, reported that no one could stir up a crowd like Ingersoll, and that by the end of the Colonel's toast at General Grant's Victory Banquet after the Civil War, everyone was standing on chairs and tables stomping, cheering, crying and madly waving their napkins.
Once A Week is a collection of short stories and slightly longer vignettes which were written for Milne's solid British Audience, including regular readers of Punch -- between1903, when he graduated from Cambridge and 1906, when he began also to edit Punch, on and through to 1909. They are humorous verses, essays and stories with what he deemed a peculiarly British flavor, focusing on the antics and adventures of a small recurring group of friends and acquaintances. The breadth of Milne's oeuvre is illustrated by his publication, in the mean time, of 18 plays, 3 novels, collections of children's poems, screen plays for popular British films, and a (pretty good) detective story. -- among other things.
Seventeen goofy stories and essays by Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock. "Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the greatest humorist of the age." – A. P. Herbert
Simple and unpretentious as a statement by Francis d’Assisi, yet full of a gentle modern sophistication and humour, this little work will bring delight and refreshment to all who seek flight from the heavy-laden hour. It is, moreover, one of the most subtle and penetrating studies of the psychology of the dog that has ever been written—tender yet unsentimental, realistic and full of the detail of masterly observation and description, yet in its final form and precipitation a work of exquisite literary art.
"Second, when telling such lies as may seem necessary to your international standing, do not tell the lies to the people who know the truth. Do not tell the Eskimos that snow is bright green; nor tell the negroes in Africa that the sun never shines in that Dark Continent. Rather tell the Eskimos that the sun never shines in Africa; and then, turning to the tropical Africans, see if they will believe that snow is green. Similarly, the course indicated for you is to slander the Russians to the English and the English to the Russians; and there are hundreds of good old reliable slanders which can still be used against both of them. There are probably still Russians who believe that every English gentleman puts a rope round his wife's neck and sells her in Smithfield. There are certainly still Englishmen who believe that every Russian gentleman takes a rope to his wife's back and whips her every day. But these stories, picturesque and useful as they are, have a limit to their use like everything else; and the limit consists in the fact that they are not true, and that there necessarily exists a group of persons who know they are not true. It is so with matters of fact about which you asseverate so positively to us, as if they were matters of opinion." (Gilbert Keith Chesterton)
Chesterton and Shaw were famous friends and enjoyed their arguments and discussions. Although rarely in agreement, they both maintained good-will towards and respect for each other. However, in his writing, Chesterton expressed himself very plainly on where they differed and why. In Heretics he writes of Shaw:
“After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby.”
Shaw represented the new school of thought, humanism, which was rising at the time. Chesterton's views, on the other hand, became increasingly more focused towards the church. In Orthodoxy he writes:
“The worship of will is the negation of will. . . If Mr. Bernard Shaw comes up to me and says, "Will something," that is tantamount to saying, "I do not mind what you will," and that is tantamount to saying, "I have no will in the matter." You cannot admire will in general, because the essence of will is that it is particular.
The Atlantic was a popular periodical with a wide range of essays and stories. In an effort to remain current, many strong and valid submissions ended up being pushed aside. The Atlantic Classic was an experimental publication, drawing on some sixteen of these good but rejected essays.
"Believing as I do that James Thomson is, since Shelley, the most brilliant genius who has wielded a pen in the service of Freethought, I take a natural pride and pleasure in rescuing the following articles from burial in the great mausoleum of the periodical press. There will doubtless be a diversity of opinion as to their value. One critic, for instance, has called “The Story of a Famous Old Jewish Firm” a witless squib; but, on the other hand, the late Professor Clifford considered it a piece of exquisite mordant satire worthy of Swift. Such differences are inevitable from the very nature of the subject. Satire, more than any other form of composition, rouses antipathy where it does not command applause; and the greater the satire, the more intense are the feelings it excites." (G. W. Foote in his Preface)
With clear logic and entertaining dialogues, the author presents many reasons for a vegetarian rather than a “flesh-eating” diet, and his arguments for not eating meat are as compelling today as when they were written. (Lee Smalley)
Select Conversations with an Uncle, published in 1895, was H.G. Wells's first literary publication in book form. It consists of reports of twelve conversations between a fictional witty uncle who has returned to London from South Africa with "a certain affluence," as well as two other conversations (one on aestheticism that takes place in a train, titled "A Misunderstood Artist," and another on physiognomy, titled "The Man with a Nose")
Chrisopher Morley was an American literary luminary whose prolific writings included novels, essays, poetry, plays and great journalistic output. This collection of essays is wide ranging in topics, many with his characteristic wit.
“Unless we are all mad, there is at the back of the most bewildering business a story: and if we are all mad, there is no such thing as madness. If I set a house on fire, it is quite true that I may illuminate many other people's weaknesses as well as my own. It may be that the master of the house was burned because he was drunk; it may be that the mistress of the house was burned because she was stingy, and perished arguing about the expense of the fire-escape. It is, nevertheless, broadly true that they both were burned because I set fire to their house. That is the story of the thing. The mere facts of the story about the present European conflagration are quite as easy to tell."
Hillaire Belloc of French by birth, British by naturalization was a diverse and prolific writer of the early 20th century. His writing runs the range from poetry, political writings and children’s stories. He was a close friend, and sometimes collaborator with fellow Catholic G.K. Chesterton.
This book is a collection of essays and other short writings on a vast array of subjects ranging from observations on the barber, the duel, reflections on war and religion. Some are in the form of drama, dialogue and letters but always engaging with wit and satire.
Charles Bradlaugh was an English political activist and atheist who founded the National Secular Society in 1866.
In the 23 "Theological Essays" collected here, he discusses his views on various topics such as whether man has a soul and if there is a God; who was Jesus Christ and the Apostles. He also deals in depth with various books of the Bible, gives an overview of the history of heresy, and tries to answer the question when the Gospels were written.
A. A. Milne is best known for his creation of the perennially popular Winnie the Pooh, though he was and is highly acclaimed for hundreds of gently humorous essays and poems published in, among other famous venues, Punch Magazine, most of which have been collected and published as books.The Sunny Side is his last collection of articles and verses because, as he wrote in the American Introduction to the volume, “this sort of writing depends largely upon the irresponsibility and high spirits of youth for its success, and I want to stop before …the high spirits become mechanical …”He called this assortment “scrappy, because, “…Odd Verses have crept in on the unanswerable plea that, if they didn't do it now, they never would; War Sketches protested that I shouldn't have a book at all if I left them out; an Early Article, omitted from three previous volumes, paraded for the fourth time with such a pathetic 'I suppose you don't want me' in its eye that it could not decently be rejected.” He concludes: “So here they all are."Summary by Kirsten Wever
A collection of essays on 19th century novelists, both famous ones and those largely forgotten now. Among the writers presented most wrote in English, but three foreign authors are also discussed. Phelps taught a course on novels at a university and he added to those biographical essays some of his ideas about the importance of novels in the process of teaching about literature.
“I knew a man once, Maurice, who was at Oxford for three years, and after that went down with no degree. At College, while his friends were seeking for Truth in funny brown German Philosophies, Sham Religions, stinking bottles and identical equations, he was lying on his back in Eynsham meadows thinking of Nothing, and got the Truth by this parallel road of his much more quickly than did they by theirs; for the asses are still seeking, mildly disputing, and, in a cultivated manner, following the gleam, so that they have become in their Donnish middle-age a nuisance and a pest; while he--that other--with the Truth very fast and firm at the end of a leather thong is dragging her sliding, whining and crouching on her four feet, dragging her reluctant through the world, even into the broad daylight where Truth most hates to be.”
- Hilaire Belloc
In these 10 short and witty essays, author Charles S. Brooks (1878-1934) muses on various topics, as wide-ranging as Shakespeare, travelling to foreign countries, or even fashion (night-caps and hoopskirts), to name only a few.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt thirty radio addresses made throughout his terms as President of the United States between 1933 and 1944. The speeches are snapshots of American life during the turbulent decade that included the Great Depression and World War II.
This is a collection of essays by John Galsworthy. A multitude of subjects is covered, but the essays are connected by an artistic spirit, and they are written much more like short stories than in the classical style of essays.
This is a diverse collection of essays by English writer Max Beerbohm, whose circle included such famous men as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Ezra Pound, and Somerset Maugham.
The essays vary considerably in character and subject. They include, among others: a spoof on the bumbling and inarticulate nature of oratory in the House of Commons; a discussion of the writings of James Whistler, the impressionist painter (which Beerbohm considers widely neglected and under-rated); a humorous consideration of why the King of England should make a royal visit to Switzerland; and a description of the delights of frequent attendance at British courts of justice.
The author was among England's best known artists; Section Twenty-Two contains humorous (as well as critical) discussions of nine works of art, including paintings by Reubens, Corot, and Bellini.
Agnes Repplier was a popular and highly regarded essayist of the late 19th and early 20th century, who was also well known on the lecture circuit. Her writings are witty, erudite, and engaging. The eight essays in this collection include an homage to her cat Aggripina and reflections on the beauty of words, as well as essays entitled "The Children's Poets," "The Praises of War," "Leisure," "Ennui," "Wit and Humor," and "Letters."
Smoke Bellew, or really Jack London, leaves his less than satisfying writing job in San Francisco for the opportunity to search for gold in the Klondike region while writing about his adventures there. Smoke Bellew is the collection of the resulting twelve essay / stories.
These selections from the works of Mark Twain are presented in chronological order. They include the memorable whitewashing of the fence in "Tom Sawyer", events preceding the Mississippi River raft journey in "Huckleberry Finn", a dark moment during the exchange of identities in “The Prince and the Pauper”, and reflections of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. A critic wrote of another excerpt concerning a feud, "...as dramatic and powerful an episode as I know in modern literature." Also included are comments about travel abroad, Joan of Arc, a generous helping of Twain’s renowned quips, and mortality. (Lee Smalley)
Three men of letters give insightful essays on the work of Leo Tolstoy.
“[these essays on Shakespeare, Pepys, Restoration novels, and bohemianism]—the results of many hours of quiet but rather aimless browsing among books, and not of special investigations, undertaken with a view to definite scholastic ends. They are, moreover, as will readily be seen, completely unacademic in style and intention.” Published in 1897. Hudson (1841-1922) was a prolific author, naturalist, and ornithologist. His most popular book in the early 20th century was Green Mansions.
Arthur Symons talks through the histories and works of poets, playwrights, scholars and scribes. He provides both personal experience and critical wonder to the worlds of his subjects; Donne, Ibsen, Baudelaire and Emily Brontë among them
This biography is actually a series of essays by prominent personalities of the time that shed light on John Stuart Mill's life and areas of endeavor. Those areas include his experiences in India House, his moral character, certain botanical explorations, how effective he was as a critic, studies in morals and the law, and discoveries concerning political economy. They also explore ideas concerning his influence on institutions of higher learning, accomplishments as a politician, and fame as a philosopher.
Thirty four whimsical, tongue-in-cheek, and entertaining essays about not much in particular, published in 1902, by one of the most popular writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The American Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) was an artist, art critic, poet, author, and humorist. Nonsense verse (none in this collection) was a specialty.