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Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
by
Selected and Edited With An Introduction and Notes by WILLIAM LYON PHELPS
I. On the enjoyment of unpleasant places --
II. An apology for idlers --
III. AEs triplex --
IV. Talk and talkers --
V. A gossip on romance --
VI. The character of dogs --
VII. A college magazine --
VIII. Books which have influenced me --
IX. Pulvis et umbra.
I. On the enjoyment of unpleasant places --
II. An apology for idlers --
III. AEs triplex --
IV. Talk and talkers --
V. A gossip on romance --
VI. The character of dogs --
VII. A college magazine --
VIII. Books which have influenced me --
IX. Pulvis et umbra.
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Paperback, 136 pages
Published
May 29th 2008
by BiblioLife
(first published January 1st 1909)
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A couple amazing essays, a couple bad ones, several that are mediocre. The writing, of course, is great throughout, so the degree to which I enjoyed any particular essay is entirely related to how interesting I found each topic. APOLOGY FOR IDLERS and AES TRIPLEX are two of the best essays I've ever read, both in terms of writing and subject matter. On the other hand, THE CHARACTER OF DOGS is, to me, every bit as lame and tacky as one of those Dogs Playing Poker paintings. A GOSSIP ON ROMANCE an
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Enjoyed these essays by an author whose fiction I particularly like. Kidnapped being my favorite.
From his first essay in the book "ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES"
I wish I had read this essay before many years ago visiting the cottage where he lived in Saranac Lake and where he wrote some of the essays in this book. Two other favorite essays are "AN APOLOGY FOR IDLERS" and "BOOKS WHI ...more
From his first essay in the book "ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES"
Things looked at patiently from one side after another generally end by showing a side that is beautiful.
I wish I had read this essay before many years ago visiting the cottage where he lived in Saranac Lake and where he wrote some of the essays in this book. Two other favorite essays are "AN APOLOGY FOR IDLERS" and "BOOKS WHI ...more
Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850. He was an invalid as a child. Reluctant to study law but passed his exams in 1875. He loved travel, the Scottish weather being an encouragement. Treasure Island was published in 1883. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was his breakthrough work in 1886. He sailed for America in 1887. In 1890 he settled in Samoa. Died in 1894. Irrepressibly optimistic in character.
This collection covers a range of topics, essays on love, death, his hatred of stuffy dr ...more
This collection covers a range of topics, essays on love, death, his hatred of stuffy dr ...more
Discriminado durante buena parte del s. XX como un autor «menor» o de novela «juvenil» o «de aventuras», Robert Louis Stevenson demuestra con estos ensayos (traducidos por Ismael Attrache y editados por Alberto Manguel para el Fondo de Cultura Económica y Ediciones Siruela) que no solo era una de las inteligencias más penetrantes de su época, sino que se trataba de un estilista del lenguaje, quizás a la misma altura que Thomas de Quincey o G. K. Chesterton.
Los temas que se abordan a lo largo de ...more
Los temas que se abordan a lo largo de ...more
Brilliant writing: I found myself easily being 'transported' in the Stevenson's beautifully crafted prose. He was one of the select few masters of the English language as it was.
Stevenson exudes an adventurer's constitution. I was drawn in especially after listening to his essay on walking. He is humorous and perceptive. He has much to say worth pondering.
Cuenta Borges que Stevenson creía que uno de los deberes de la literatura era no deprimir a los lectores. Ciertamente esa concepción ética de la actividad de un escritor (debe ser tanto útil como honesta) se ve plasmada a lo largo de los 15 ensayos escogidos y publicados por Losada.
Si el autor escocés trata temas estrictamente "literarios" -al polemizar sobre el realismo o al referir las muchas dificultades a las que se enfrentaba a la hora de escribir- es nada más que para dar consejos útiles a ...more
Si el autor escocés trata temas estrictamente "literarios" -al polemizar sobre el realismo o al referir las muchas dificultades a las que se enfrentaba a la hora de escribir- es nada más que para dar consejos útiles a ...more
I've enjoyed Stevenson's essays more than his fiction so far. His essays are great little nuggets, with a tone that varies in its didacticism--sometimes he sounds full of himself and is issuing forth universal truths but many other times slips into personal comparisons with humorous or self-effacing anecdotes. He also is often terribly sexist ("manly" is just about the best compliment he can give). But somehow none of these faults entirely put me off, perhaps because he always seems good-natured
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This would not have been my first choice of reading material, but since the last week has been broken up and I "needed" to read an essay anthology, I decided to get this off my TBR list. There were bits and pieces in here that I found interesting and/or amusing, but the rest I could have done without. I'm not usually one to read essays, but if I do it has to be by a favorite author and/or someone I admire and respect a great deal.
An interesting man and excellent writer, these sets of essays provide an insight into his mind and way of thinking that I liked quite a lot in general. Some weren't that great, but overall, it was a good read.
A really interesting collection of essays that provides a far greater insight into this author's thoughts and ideas than any biography could. I finished them and am already planning on a re-read sometime in the future. The most enjoyable ones, and those I would feel inclined to pass on to others, were "On the Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places", "An Apology for Idlers", "Talk and Talkers" as well as "Books which Have Influenced Me".
I found the footnotes to be illuminating in many cases, but also arc ...more
I found the footnotes to be illuminating in many cases, but also arc ...more
Exceptional essayist. He writes of how he discovered that one can become satisfied anywhere, even in the windy alcove of a barren coastline, but he still managed to travel the world with a debilitating lung condition.
I wish we could shake even more Scottsmen in the rain, then shake them out again in a pub somewhere.
You must visit the museum in Edinburgh dedicated to Stevenson's short life.
I wish we could shake even more Scottsmen in the rain, then shake them out again in a pub somewhere.
You must visit the museum in Edinburgh dedicated to Stevenson's short life.
The ideas were great and the writing was prett, but it's age made the vocabulary unintuitive to
Me and I didn't understand the 19th century references.
Me and I didn't understand the 19th century references.
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Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is onl ...more
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is onl ...more
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“I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.”
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“I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in. As I walked, my mind was busy fitting what I saw with appropriate words; when I sat by the roadside, I would either read or a pencil and a penny version-book would be in my hand, to note the features of the scene or commemorate some halting stanzas. Thus I lived with words.”
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