Common Reading: Critics, Historians, Publics

by Stefan Collini

In this series of penetrating and attractively readable essays, Stefan Collini explores aspects of the literary and intellectual culture of Britain from the early twentieth century to the present. Collini focuses on critics and historians who wrote for a non-specialist readership, and on the
periodicals and other genres through which they attempted to reach that readership.

Among the critics discussed are Cyril Connolly, V.S. Pritchett, Aldous Huxley, Rebecca West, Edmund Wilson, and George Orwell, while the historians include A.L. Rowse, Arthur Bryant, E.H. Carr, and E.P. Thompson. There are also essays on wider themes such as the fate of 'general' periodicals, the
history of reading, the role of criticism, changing conceptions of 'culture', the limitations of biography, and the functions of universities. Explicitly addressed to 'the non-specialist reader', these essays make some of the fruits of detailed scholarly research in various fields available to a
wider audience in a succinct and elegant manner.

Stefan Collini has been acclaimed as one of the most brilliant essayists of our time, and this collection shows him at his subtle, perceptive, and trenchant best. The book will appeal to (and delight) readers interested in literature, history, and contemporary cultural debate.

Genres: Books About Books, History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2008

About the author

Stefan Collini is Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge University. After degrees at Cambridge and Yale, he taught at the University of Sussex before moving to a post in the Faculty of English at Cambridge in 1986. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a frequent contributor to The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Nation, and other periodicals, and an occasional broadcaster.

His research includes the relation between literature and intellectual history from the early 20th century to the present. Current research focusses on the cultural role of, and the historical assumptions expressed in, literary criticism in Britain from c.1920 to c.1970. Recent work has dealt with the question of intellectuals in 20th-century Britain, the relation between academic critics and 'men of letters', the role of cultural criticism, as well as individual essays on figures such as T.S. Eliot, F.R. Leavis, George Orwell, Raymond Williams, and Richard Hoggart. Also work on the history, and public debates about the role, of universities in Britain.

Reviews

[Jes · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange but thoroughly enjoyable book. I didn't realize until I reached the very end that most of the essays in the collection were written as pieces for the Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian, which explains a lot about how readable and 'nonacademic' they feel. But it also really works as an academic text, I think, or at least I can see how it's going to be very useful for academic work. It's the kind of book that only a male scholar could've written, in terms of the kinds of confident, sweeping declarations it makes about culture and history. I don't necessarily mean that in a pejorative way--it makes for a very good, very engaging read, and I sort of appreciated how Collini seemed very conscious of, but not self-conscious about, the limitations/possible shortcomings of his own style. It was hilariously funny in many parts, too. Anyway, I liked it a lot, and will definitely read more of his stuff, even though I found it a little eye-roll-inducing that in a 350 page book that tackles such a broad swath of twentieth-century British literature, I think he probably mentioned maybe four or five women writers total, and Rebecca West and Virginia Woolf are the only ones who get anything more than a passing reference. My frustration isn't, like, "I DON'T WANNA READ ABOUT MEN!!!" so much as, I feel like the period he spends the most time thinking about (1930s-40s) is just BURSTING with fascinating women writers and reviewers who are thinking about what it means to read and write, or to live a "literary life," and looking at that body of work would've added so much more complexity, depth, or just interest to an already interesting book.