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A Dissertation upon Roast Pig and Other Essays
A rapturous appreciation of pork crackling, a touching description of hungry London chimney sweeps, a discussion of the strange pleasure of eating pineapple and a meditation on the delights of Christmas feasting are just some of the subjects of these personal, playful writings from early nineteenth-century essayist Charles Lamb.
Exploring the joys of food and also our complicated social relationship with it, these essays are by turns sensuous, mischievous, lyrical and self-mocking. Filled with a sense of hunger, they are some of the most fascinating and nuanced works ever written about eating, drinking and appetite.
Exploring the joys of food and also our complicated social relationship with it, these essays are by turns sensuous, mischievous, lyrical and self-mocking. Filled with a sense of hunger, they are some of the most fascinating and nuanced works ever written about eating, drinking and appetite.
89 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1888
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400 people want to read
About the author
Charles Lamb
2,015 books193 followersCharles Lamb was an English essayist with Welsh heritage, best known for his "Essays of Elia" and for the children's book "Tales from Shakespeare", which he produced along with his sister,
Mary Lamb
(1764–1847).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 31, 2016
Well, here is a very pleasant surprise. This was actually all right! I don't eat or like red meat, so a book titled "A Dissertation upon Roast Pig" did not immediately appeal to me. However, having the entire 20 strong Penguin great food series to read, I didn't really want to skip this one. And to be honest, it was probably the dissertation upon roast pig that I enjoyed the most.
These slightly witty little essays were written in the late 1700s/early 1800s and have some connection to food - some more obvious than others. I don't know whether at some point Penguin was getting really desperate to bulk out this little volume and took anything that included the word food or drink. One of the mini chapters is about chimney sweeps and how great Lamb thinks they are (as people, not on the dinner plate). The only connection to food here is a type of tea made from wood that they apparently used to drink. So there you go. The pig dissertation is Lamb's slightly silly explanation about how mankind discovered that you could roast a pig, and actually that it was rather tasty. I'm not converted but the story was fun. I also liked his account of a massive dinner party to which all the days/seasons/events of the year were invited. Some of the other chapters are a wee bit dull and he does drivel on, but I think in any compilation there's always going to be some winners and losers.
These slightly witty little essays were written in the late 1700s/early 1800s and have some connection to food - some more obvious than others. I don't know whether at some point Penguin was getting really desperate to bulk out this little volume and took anything that included the word food or drink. One of the mini chapters is about chimney sweeps and how great Lamb thinks they are (as people, not on the dinner plate). The only connection to food here is a type of tea made from wood that they apparently used to drink. So there you go. The pig dissertation is Lamb's slightly silly explanation about how mankind discovered that you could roast a pig, and actually that it was rather tasty. I'm not converted but the story was fun. I also liked his account of a massive dinner party to which all the days/seasons/events of the year were invited. Some of the other chapters are a wee bit dull and he does drivel on, but I think in any compilation there's always going to be some winners and losers.
August 9, 2016
I'm sorry that this was my first introduction to Charles Lamb, whom I have long wished to read. In their desire to keep to their "great food" theme Penguin searched Lamb's essays for anything that could remotely be considered food-related; however, that means that a lot of the collection was included because it was on-topic rather than because it was his best.
There were a few good pages in here, enough that I feel it's worth trying Lamb again. Also I like imagining Mr. Bennet reading these essays (I'm sure many of them would have been too indelicate for the Misses Bennet to enjoy).
There were a few good pages in here, enough that I feel it's worth trying Lamb again. Also I like imagining Mr. Bennet reading these essays (I'm sure many of them would have been too indelicate for the Misses Bennet to enjoy).
December 17, 2020
Anne Fadiman lauds Charles Lamb's essays in one of her own collections of essays, and so I picked this up... oh dear me, Charles Lamb. I knew his sad history from Wikipedia and that he and his sister Mary co-authored the Tales from Shakespeare for Children, but it is quite another to read his essays celebrating gluttony, indulgence, and inebriation. Bless his heart. He is funny, though. If you like Dickens you will probably find these mildly humorous.
February 19, 2017
This is a book I received as part of the Penguin Books Great Food Series. It is a collection of essays on a varied selection of topics ranging from the history of roasting suckling pig to Alcoholism and Gluttony. I personally enjoyed the lighter topics included in the collection.
One essay was written about The New Year’s Coming of Age told as though each of the special days/holidays was a character, ” …The last of Lent was spunging upon Shrovetide’s pancakes…” The humor was well done and the references to the nature of the days was still applicable today. Another of the essays I thought was well done was titled, The Peach. It was brief tale about resisting temptation and how torturous it can be, particularly in the time this essay was written, circa 1800. The divide between the haves and have-nots was insurmountable and to be placed in the situation of the narrator, having access to seemingly unlimited wealth, but none of his own was making his life a misery.
This was not my favorite in the series, but it was still an interesting addition to the Great Food Books.
One essay was written about The New Year’s Coming of Age told as though each of the special days/holidays was a character, ” …The last of Lent was spunging upon Shrovetide’s pancakes…” The humor was well done and the references to the nature of the days was still applicable today. Another of the essays I thought was well done was titled, The Peach. It was brief tale about resisting temptation and how torturous it can be, particularly in the time this essay was written, circa 1800. The divide between the haves and have-nots was insurmountable and to be placed in the situation of the narrator, having access to seemingly unlimited wealth, but none of his own was making his life a misery.
This was not my favorite in the series, but it was still an interesting addition to the Great Food Books.
June 6, 2018
Fun if verbose essays in the character of an outrageous sot and glutton. Was alright.
June 7, 2019
An excellent read for trips to the toilet.
May 3, 2013
Part of the Penguin "Great Food" reprint series. Written during the Romantic Period, the language is quite out dated, and rather tedious. You can read the title essay for free online, and I would suggest that. Otherwise, most of the other essays are peripheral to food and gormandizing. Thankfully a short collection made up of mostly short pieces, in case you do want to attempt reading the complete volume.
June 7, 2014
An interesting book though unlike the others in the series this is more reflections of the author and not ALL of them as I have stated are "foodie" orientated.
There are even chapters on chimney sweeps, London fog AND the confessions of a drunkard so all in all NOT wholly what it states on the book cover.
Though there was a dissertation on the history of the pig and and how people came to develop the art of roasting meat.
All in all an interesting book in general so worth reading.
There are even chapters on chimney sweeps, London fog AND the confessions of a drunkard so all in all NOT wholly what it states on the book cover.
Though there was a dissertation on the history of the pig and and how people came to develop the art of roasting meat.
All in all an interesting book in general so worth reading.
November 4, 2012
I first read this short story in high school, more than a few years ago. Rereading it today and all the right buttons were pushed again. The language is a bit dated but the visuals are terrific. here is the story...http://www.foodreference.com/html/a-d....
February 19, 2012
A classic. Best to read the essays one by one. The language is a bit old-fashioned (no surprise), and maybe it's best to read out loud, or at least sub-vocalize "out loud".
July 11, 2014
Not bad, but compared to other titles from the Good Food range it is rather dull for the most part.
March 31, 2016
Love Lamb
August 29, 2016
Pig—let me speak his praise—is no less provocative of the appetite, than he is satisfactory to the
criticalness of the censorious palate.
criticalness of the censorious palate.
May 18, 2015
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
July 28, 2017
let me get back to this soon.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews