Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? C. S. Lewis's classic An Experiment in Criticism springs from the conviction that literature exis...
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Apr 21, 2009
Jesse
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Another good example as to why it's a shame C.S. Lewis has been largely abandoned to the realm of religious studies--I can't imagine many non-religious literary critics would bother touching this now. In a lot of ways this is a proto-text for Reader Response theory, with Lewis exploring why making a distinction between what is "good" literature and what is "bad" literature is less important than analyzing the person reading it (which he breaks into the "literary" a
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Feb 02, 2012
Brenden
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If you haven't read anything on literary criticism, this little book by C.S. Lewis will open your mind to a whole new world -- the world of the text, and it well-read.
Lewis suggests that rather than judging the quality of books by their mere nature and/or content, one should judge them by the nature in which they are read. For example, some people read books only once to gratify some curiosity or lust, only to abandon the books forever afterwards. Contrarily, those who truly love th More...
Lewis suggests that rather than judging the quality of books by their mere nature and/or content, one should judge them by the nature in which they are read. For example, some people read books only once to gratify some curiosity or lust, only to abandon the books forever afterwards. Contrarily, those who truly love th More...
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Apr 03, 2008
Tawny
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Much to my surprise, I enjoyed reading An Experiment in Criticism. Then again, I am a humanities minor, so anything dealing with art in general is of interest to me. I really appreciated how C.S. Lewis wrote about reading, music, myths, poetry, and paintings. I think he covered his bases well and did not favor any art form. Unlike many other literary critics, Lewis made his points logical and easy to understand. The terminology he used to argue his position was also decipherable. It was a great
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Aug 04, 2011
Lewis submits the basic idea that a good book demands good reading. In a round-about way he shows how different books and genres reflect this criticism. He warns us of the "reading of the unliterary" (think of the average American). This chap will avoid non-narrative material, ignore the style and rhythm, and generally prefer fast-paced novels. Lewis gives us other examples of "misreading." There is a failure between "realism of presentation" and "realism
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Feb 10, 2011
Douglas
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Rather than judge a reader’s taste in books by what he or she reads, Lewis would have us judge books by the sort of reading they “permit, invite or compel.” That’s the experiment. I’m going to be a stinker and suggest that what Lewis really wants is a roundabout way to be a snob without feeling bad about it, because it seems to come to the same thing in the end. He wants to understand his own judgments and predilections as much as he wants to understand what makes a good book good and a bad book
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Sep 25, 2010
Courtney
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I think this may be the first book of literary criticism I've read, and I only picked it up because I'm at the beginning of what feels like a bit of a C.S. Lewis binge (his biography 'Surprised by Joy' is by my elbow as I write this).
'An Experiment in Criticism' is just that - a lengthy essay in which Lewis tests out a different way of writing about books, and in particular, distinguishing good books from bad. It opens:
"In this essay. I propose to try an experiment. Lite More...
'An Experiment in Criticism' is just that - a lengthy essay in which Lewis tests out a different way of writing about books, and in particular, distinguishing good books from bad. It opens:
"In this essay. I propose to try an experiment. Lite More...
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Aug 14, 2009
Bruce
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In this book Lewis proposes to critique readers and types of reading, leaving the distinction between books themselves as a corollary to the primary experiment. Here are a couple of quotations that struck me: “The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way….The distinction can hardly be better expressed than by saying that the many use art and the few receive it.” After describing the reading habits of the “unliterary” (
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May 02, 2009
Kristen
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Lewis certainly has some compelling arguments for how literature should be read and how this method of criticism would be much more stable then the one currently in use. Overall I felt that the book had some important implications for teaching adolescents.
Lewis makes the fascinating point that in today’s educational system we are teaching students to read so critically, that many approach every work with a distrust and suspicion, immediately looking out for ways that the author mig More...
Lewis makes the fascinating point that in today’s educational system we are teaching students to read so critically, that many approach every work with a distrust and suspicion, immediately looking out for ways that the author mig More...
Mar 01, 2009
Brent
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Why read? C.S. Lewis says because it is a hedonistic pleasure and it is "good". "Good" for Lewis does not mean the subject matter is true or even logical but dependent on individual need.
In the first chapter he compares buying a book to someone who buys a picture. The need can be very different from one person to the next. One might buy the picture to cover a bare spot on the wall and then after a week or two the pictures become mostly invisible to them. The good More...
In the first chapter he compares buying a book to someone who buys a picture. The need can be very different from one person to the next. One might buy the picture to cover a bare spot on the wall and then after a week or two the pictures become mostly invisible to them. The good More...
Nov 22, 2009
Cheri
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I realize this book was written 50 years ago, but I still find passages like these simply unforgivable:
"We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. . . . Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course o their lif More...
"We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. . . . Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course o their lif More...
Aug 25, 2010
graham
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A summary quote:
"Ideally, we must receive [the work:] first and then evaluate it. Otherwise, we have nothing to evaluate. Unfortunately this ideal is progressively less and less realised the longer we live in a literary profession or in literary circles. It occurs, magnificently, in young readers. At a first reading of some great work, they are 'knocked flat'. Criticise it? No, by God, but read it again. The judgement 'This must be a great work' may be long delayed. But in late More...
"Ideally, we must receive [the work:] first and then evaluate it. Otherwise, we have nothing to evaluate. Unfortunately this ideal is progressively less and less realised the longer we live in a literary profession or in literary circles. It occurs, magnificently, in young readers. At a first reading of some great work, they are 'knocked flat'. Criticise it? No, by God, but read it again. The judgement 'This must be a great work' may be long delayed. But in late More...
Oct 17, 2011
Carl
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"Smiles from reason flow."
Expressing his distaste for much of contemporary Literary Criticim, Lewis attempts an exploration of what reading is, what it does, and why literature should be given back to the readers.
Expressing his distaste for much of contemporary Literary Criticim, Lewis attempts an exploration of what reading is, what it does, and why literature should be given back to the readers.
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Sep 02, 2011
Danna
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At the outset, and at many points along the way, I was convinced that Lewis was simply on a rant against literary scholars and critics who dismissed his Narnia Tales as being only a fairy tale for children.
Ultimately I adapted to his style, arguments, and penchant for debating from all sides of an issue. One happy surprise was the two or three belly laughs I enjoyed, and the discovery of great soundbites, as well as a much-loved quote at the end:
"But in reading great literature More...
Ultimately I adapted to his style, arguments, and penchant for debating from all sides of an issue. One happy surprise was the two or three belly laughs I enjoyed, and the discovery of great soundbites, as well as a much-loved quote at the end:
"But in reading great literature More...
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Aug 23, 2007
Carl
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As far as literary criticism goes, this is a bit old and out of date, but I think I remember being impressed with many bits of this when I read it-- which was a while back, so I don't remember it all that well. I think there might have been a stronger focus on the reader, rather than the author's biography, etc, which was impressive to me at the time as it was coming so long before the heyday of reception theory and reader-response theory. In any case, it was pleasant to read something by Lewi
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Jan 23, 2009
Denae
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Iteresting and gets me to thinking. According to the way he wants to look at books and readers, which is something I'll have to think about a little longer, his would get a 5 for being so deep, but CSL seemed to do a lot of repeating. Long after I'd gotten his concept, he's still explaining it.
I also couldn't connect with a lot of the references because I didn't live in the 1950's. I don't know half the writer's he talks about, so some is just outdated.
I also couldn't connect with a lot of the references because I didn't live in the 1950's. I don't know half the writer's he talks about, so some is just outdated.
Jul 30, 2010
Sarah
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I love the way C.S. Lewis writes. In this book he talks about the right way to read books, where we really take what an author is saying and let it change us. His experiment is that instead of defining someone's "taste" in literature by what he read's, Lewis tries to define how good a book is by the way it is read. He says if a book is really worth reading, then it is worth re-reading and savoring.
Jan 31, 2008
Paul
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Definitely a more creative approach to reading than what passes for it now in the university (whether it be making cute Marxist, Multicultural, Psychological, or even Linguistic comments about a text). I like Lewis' idea of the Few and the Many - it does describe categories of readers, for sure. And it is humbling when Lewis reminds us that although we may belong to the Few in one area (literature, art, or may I even add, sport), it's quite likely that we belong to the Many in another.
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Mar 24, 2009
Greg
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A technical work rather that one dealing with religion, but still surprisingly good. I read it only because I'm a Lewis buff, but I was not disappointed. One of my favorite things about Lewis is his ability to put feelings into words that I have felt, but didn't even know I had felt. He does it here, speaking more of the imagination that of the soul.
Aug 12, 2009
Laura
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The idea of receiving or using a work of art is extremely useful. It explains a lot of things about what makes a genuine work art, music or literature, as opposed to popular entertainment. This difference really used to puzzle me when I was a teen and college student. I wish I'd known about this book then!
Aug 10, 2008
Audrey
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I love CS Lewis. He is an accessible academic and being able to understand most of what he writes strokes my ego.
I'm not sure I agree with his conclusions in this book, but at least it prompted me to take a look at my own reading habits. And I'm sure that for a good long while I'll be thinking about what makes a good reader and what role literary criticism plays. And whether I'm part of the unwashed masses (my phrase, not his) or whether I'm part of the educated, literary "few" More...
I'm not sure I agree with his conclusions in this book, but at least it prompted me to take a look at my own reading habits. And I'm sure that for a good long while I'll be thinking about what makes a good reader and what role literary criticism plays. And whether I'm part of the unwashed masses (my phrase, not his) or whether I'm part of the educated, literary "few" More...
Jan 31, 2012
Tre
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In answer to the question: Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? If you want to read Lewis writing about reading, this is the book to get. Great fun to read, especially if you happen to be wearing a grey sweater and reading glasses, and have a cup of tea at hand.
Oct 09, 2011
John
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Yup. I liked it. Like most of Lewis' books, he says more in 140 pages than most do in 300. But I suppose he also looks deeply into little to produce much. When most are raking leaves and combing grass, Lewis is 20 feet deep and analyzing roots.
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Dec 05, 2011
Makes you reconsider why you like and dislike things...and, typical Lewis, makes you reconsider a whole lot of other things besides.
Sep 16, 2008
Ron
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Not for the faint-hearted. Herein Lewis suggest turning literary criticism upside down--judging a book by who reads it rather than what a narrow clique of great experts tell readers about it.
One of his criteria to identify a "good" work is the number of times a reader reads it. In Lewis's opinion no reader fully understands or appreciates a book on one reading. And the really good works draw the reader back--and reward her with new experiences--many times.
Obvio More...
One of his criteria to identify a "good" work is the number of times a reader reads it. In Lewis's opinion no reader fully understands or appreciates a book on one reading. And the really good works draw the reader back--and reward her with new experiences--many times.
Obvio More...
Oct 15, 2011
TheSporkWithin
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Utterly fantastic little book. Everyone who considers himself or herself a lover of "good literature" ought to read this.
Apr 22, 2009
Chris
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I have read this book annually since I first picked it up six years ago. This book is far more valuable than a mere manual on improving literary criticism. Lewis's beautifully written, contrarian, penetrating analysis of good reading is just as applicable to good living generally. As someone who has read nearly every one of Lewis's published works, this little book ranks as his best by far. If it influences you as much as it influenced me, you will become a much more enchanted, surrendered r
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Mar 03, 2011
Emma
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Every time I read this I am struck anew by some new brilliant passage or off-hand remark.
This book defines my life.
This book defines my life.
Mar 11, 2009
Steve
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re-read and it was better the second time than the first (and it was good the first time!)
Jun 10, 2011
Steven
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What does the art do to you? A great way to get at "objectivity" in art criticism.
