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Robert Louis Stevenson: Selected Essays
Sixteen provocative and charming essays by the author of Treasure Island, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
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451 people want to read
About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
7,055 books7,096 followersRobert 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 only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 3, 2022
Stevenson’s novels are undoubtedly what most people read and love. This volume of essays gives a little more direct insight into his thinking and is good for serious fans. He obviously has a late Victorian bent for the beautiful and against the life spent making money in traditional Victorian ways such as business, banking and industry. There is irony in this as RLS came from the famous “lighthouse Stevensons”, famous engineers who built many lighthouse wonders and bridges. His own father did his best to steer him towards engineering or at least law as a second choice. Stevenson’s poor health in childhood and general disinterest in the “practical” and “academic” made all that a losing cause for dad. A number of these essays make it plain that he believed in the school of wandering, idleness and stopping to smell the roses. To him that was real education. These essays don’t deal with his writing all that much. One real stand out essay is “Aes Triplex”. It deals with his thoughts on death but is not morbid in a Victorian way. It certainly is exceptional in this collection and is interesting because it was written close to the end of his fairly short life. Another interesting essay deals with his joy in conversation.
The big drawback…a very academic and moralistic William Lyon Phelps (probably completely unheard of today) took it upon himself to write a long (approximately 10% of this short book) introduction that sucks all the joy out of RLS’s writing. Did he never read Kidnapped or Treasure Island? Everything to him was about Stevenson’s moralism. Certainly these essays have points of view but I think Stevenson would have been surprised to be used in this way. Each essay is followed by Phelps’s annotations, again not that interestingly. This collection was done after RLS’s death.
I would recommend seeking out another edition or just skip over the introduction and annotations.
The big drawback…a very academic and moralistic William Lyon Phelps (probably completely unheard of today) took it upon himself to write a long (approximately 10% of this short book) introduction that sucks all the joy out of RLS’s writing. Did he never read Kidnapped or Treasure Island? Everything to him was about Stevenson’s moralism. Certainly these essays have points of view but I think Stevenson would have been surprised to be used in this way. Each essay is followed by Phelps’s annotations, again not that interestingly. This collection was done after RLS’s death.
I would recommend seeking out another edition or just skip over the introduction and annotations.
January 10, 2022
Robert L. Stevenson es un autor escocés nacido en la mitad del siglo XIX y conocido por dos libros disímiles entre sí: “La isla del tesoro” y “El extraño caso de Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde”. También escribió cuentos y poesía, pero lo que nos concierne hoy son los ensayos que seleccionó Alberto Manguel para esta edición de FCE.
Estos ensayos fueron publicados en diferentes años y manejan una diversidad de temas que logra que la lectura sea interesante. Stevenson no le escapa a la autoreferencialidad, pero es que tiene mucho para contar y relacionar: si leen parte de su biografía, verán que su vida fue extraordinaria. En estas páginas podemos encontrar, entonces, al Stevenson niño, adulto, crítico, lector, observador y escritor.
Una de las cuestiones que me sorprendió es la sinceridad con la que opina sobre temas de literatura. Hacerle una crítica a Walter Scott en “Un chisme sobre la novela” o dedicarle un ensayo a Walt Whitman diciendo que no es imprescindible leer al poeta me dio la sensación de estar frente a un hombre que no se calla nada. Por supuesto, los escritos que más disfruté fueron los que nombré y todos aquellos que se relacionaban con libros. Incluso hay un ensayo donde habla del origen –por decirlo de alguna forma– de “La isla del tesoro”. Sin embargo, también me encantaron “Sobre el disfrute de los lugares desagradables”, “La conversación y los conversadores” y “Edimburgo”.
“Memoria para el olvido” es una opción muy buena para conocer a este gran escritor del cual era fanático el mismísimo Borges –lo entiendo, ya que “El extraño caso…” es mi libro favorito y aspiro a leer todos sus cuentos–. No le falta nada y no le sobra ninguna página. La selección de ensayos es excelente.
Estos ensayos fueron publicados en diferentes años y manejan una diversidad de temas que logra que la lectura sea interesante. Stevenson no le escapa a la autoreferencialidad, pero es que tiene mucho para contar y relacionar: si leen parte de su biografía, verán que su vida fue extraordinaria. En estas páginas podemos encontrar, entonces, al Stevenson niño, adulto, crítico, lector, observador y escritor.
Una de las cuestiones que me sorprendió es la sinceridad con la que opina sobre temas de literatura. Hacerle una crítica a Walter Scott en “Un chisme sobre la novela” o dedicarle un ensayo a Walt Whitman diciendo que no es imprescindible leer al poeta me dio la sensación de estar frente a un hombre que no se calla nada. Por supuesto, los escritos que más disfruté fueron los que nombré y todos aquellos que se relacionaban con libros. Incluso hay un ensayo donde habla del origen –por decirlo de alguna forma– de “La isla del tesoro”. Sin embargo, también me encantaron “Sobre el disfrute de los lugares desagradables”, “La conversación y los conversadores” y “Edimburgo”.
“Memoria para el olvido” es una opción muy buena para conocer a este gran escritor del cual era fanático el mismísimo Borges –lo entiendo, ya que “El extraño caso…” es mi libro favorito y aspiro a leer todos sus cuentos–. No le falta nada y no le sobra ninguna página. La selección de ensayos es excelente.
November 5, 2013
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 and BOOKS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED ME are good if you are interested in old books and the literary development of R.L.S. The rest of the essays in this collection, I could take or leave.
November 24, 2019
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 WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED ME"
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 WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED ME"
April 9, 2021
I have had this book FOREVER-no doubt acquired during my very earnest early years of aspiration to be a classicist from one of the very earnest little mail order book catalogs which I used to scour for bargains and which no longer exist. I determined to actually read it after a friend was browsing through my library and flew into an absolutely defensive rant over a certain passage critical of Thoreau. I determined immediately to find, and be wickedly delighted upon discovering the offending passage . . .
In the meantime, Stevenson managed to bestow upon me a benevolent literary freedom. He, himself, was relegated to obscurity after such as Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard condemned him as a writer of the second class-relegated to children's literature and horror dramas. Only more lately has he begun to acquire a reputation as a literary theorist, a social critic, and an essayist with great range and insight. The liberation comes in enjoying his respectful, yet deliberate fearlessness in refusing to cower before literary giants. He allowed me to say to myself: "yes, quite right; I find Thoreau a bit miserably stingy too and his sweeping assumptions about how we all should live and view the world seem drawn through mud-colored glasses . . . " Thus far, however, I have only said this to Stevenson, who sympathetically agrees.
I have also begun to appreciate the mood reflected in these essays, by someone traveling and looking at the world and its various turmoils and trying to make sense of where it was heading. Having the vantage point of now gives many of his observations a chilling prescience. I love his formal style and great care with word choice, I love his genuine humanism, I love his fascination with being part of the human story.
A sample, from an essay titled : An Apology for Idlers
Perhaps it should be enough to focus first on whether one brightens a room upon entering. . . Stevenson has provided me a long list of such simple and important questions. And helped me become fearless in the face of persons who adore Thoreau.
In the meantime, Stevenson managed to bestow upon me a benevolent literary freedom. He, himself, was relegated to obscurity after such as Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard condemned him as a writer of the second class-relegated to children's literature and horror dramas. Only more lately has he begun to acquire a reputation as a literary theorist, a social critic, and an essayist with great range and insight. The liberation comes in enjoying his respectful, yet deliberate fearlessness in refusing to cower before literary giants. He allowed me to say to myself: "yes, quite right; I find Thoreau a bit miserably stingy too and his sweeping assumptions about how we all should live and view the world seem drawn through mud-colored glasses . . . " Thus far, however, I have only said this to Stevenson, who sympathetically agrees.
I have also begun to appreciate the mood reflected in these essays, by someone traveling and looking at the world and its various turmoils and trying to make sense of where it was heading. Having the vantage point of now gives many of his observations a chilling prescience. I love his formal style and great care with word choice, I love his genuine humanism, I love his fascination with being part of the human story.
A sample, from an essay titled : An Apology for Idlers
"A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five-pound note. He or she is a radiating focus of goodwill, and their entrance into a room is as though another candle has been lighted. We need not care whether they could prove the forty-seventh proposition; they do a better thing than that. They practically demonstrate the great Theorem of the Liveableness of Life."
Perhaps it should be enough to focus first on whether one brightens a room upon entering. . . Stevenson has provided me a long list of such simple and important questions. And helped me become fearless in the face of persons who adore Thoreau.
June 24, 2017
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 drawing rooms and preference for discourse outside. There are excellent notes at the end of each essay.
In one essay titled 'On the enjoyment of unpleasant places' his optimism really shines through. He believes unpleasant places become pleasant enough as memory is formed and become tolerant and sympathetic. Unpleasant places educate the sensibilities. You will find something to please you even in the worst places. He tells us an anecdote of a man he met who disliked Cologne until on visiting Cologne Cathedral he climbed to the top and looking out over the city from a height gave him a different perspective.
The essay ‘An apology for idlers’ makes mitching off sound very attractive. Workers are resentful of the idle person, ‘lying with a handkerchief over their ears and a glass at their elbow.' 'If you look back on your own education, I am sure it will not be the full, vivid, instructive hours of truantry that you regret; you would rather cancel some lack lustre periods between sleep and waking in the class'.
Stevenson learned a lot in the classroom scraps of information but street knowledge is more important when playing truant. There is a lovely image of going to the countryside to 'smoke inumerable pipes to the tune of the water on the stones. A bird will sing in the thicket. And there he may fall into a vein of kindly thought, and see things in a new perspective. Why, if this be not education, what is?' Too true, too true.
A truant may learn a useful art, play the fiddle, know a good cigar, or to speak with ease and opportunity to all varieties of men. Boring office workers or people addicted to work who 'pine for their desk' they have no curiosity. Slow down, appreciate the outdoors, relax!
There is also an amusing essay on the character of dogs.
I struggled with this collection, the language made sure that a lot of the information and the meaning went straight over my head so in a sense I am marking this collection down due to my own ignorance, it was still partially interesting but difficult.
This collection covers a range of topics, essays on love, death, his hatred of stuffy drawing rooms and preference for discourse outside. There are excellent notes at the end of each essay.
In one essay titled 'On the enjoyment of unpleasant places' his optimism really shines through. He believes unpleasant places become pleasant enough as memory is formed and become tolerant and sympathetic. Unpleasant places educate the sensibilities. You will find something to please you even in the worst places. He tells us an anecdote of a man he met who disliked Cologne until on visiting Cologne Cathedral he climbed to the top and looking out over the city from a height gave him a different perspective.
The essay ‘An apology for idlers’ makes mitching off sound very attractive. Workers are resentful of the idle person, ‘lying with a handkerchief over their ears and a glass at their elbow.' 'If you look back on your own education, I am sure it will not be the full, vivid, instructive hours of truantry that you regret; you would rather cancel some lack lustre periods between sleep and waking in the class'.
Stevenson learned a lot in the classroom scraps of information but street knowledge is more important when playing truant. There is a lovely image of going to the countryside to 'smoke inumerable pipes to the tune of the water on the stones. A bird will sing in the thicket. And there he may fall into a vein of kindly thought, and see things in a new perspective. Why, if this be not education, what is?' Too true, too true.
A truant may learn a useful art, play the fiddle, know a good cigar, or to speak with ease and opportunity to all varieties of men. Boring office workers or people addicted to work who 'pine for their desk' they have no curiosity. Slow down, appreciate the outdoors, relax!
There is also an amusing essay on the character of dogs.
I struggled with this collection, the language made sure that a lot of the information and the meaning went straight over my head so in a sense I am marking this collection down due to my own ignorance, it was still partially interesting but difficult.
May 9, 2020
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 estos 27 trabajos dan muestra de la enorme cantidad de intereses que movían a Stevenson. Yendo de la reivindicación sentimental de la niñez o de su paisaje natal en «Juego de niños» o «Edimburgo», a la valoración crítica justa de la obra de Walt Whitman o al elogio del ocio creativo de la pereza, este libro es un auténtico tesoro lleno de consideraciones profundas, frases memorables y no pocos consejos atemporales para una vida más plena y humana. Todo ello sin descuidar lo ameno —e incluso hilarante o anecdótico— que una escritura inteligente podría ofrecer a los lectores dispuestos a dejarse seducir por un libro que los supone al mismo nivel de curiosidad intelectual que su autor.
«Memoria para el olvido» es un volumen entrañable que, irónicamente, es muy difícil olvidar y que nos acercará, a través de muchas lecturas y relecturas, a ese gran escritor que fue Robert Louis Stevenson.
Los temas que se abordan a lo largo de estos 27 trabajos dan muestra de la enorme cantidad de intereses que movían a Stevenson. Yendo de la reivindicación sentimental de la niñez o de su paisaje natal en «Juego de niños» o «Edimburgo», a la valoración crítica justa de la obra de Walt Whitman o al elogio del ocio creativo de la pereza, este libro es un auténtico tesoro lleno de consideraciones profundas, frases memorables y no pocos consejos atemporales para una vida más plena y humana. Todo ello sin descuidar lo ameno —e incluso hilarante o anecdótico— que una escritura inteligente podría ofrecer a los lectores dispuestos a dejarse seducir por un libro que los supone al mismo nivel de curiosidad intelectual que su autor.
«Memoria para el olvido» es un volumen entrañable que, irónicamente, es muy difícil olvidar y que nos acercará, a través de muchas lecturas y relecturas, a ese gran escritor que fue Robert Louis Stevenson.
April 10, 2021
This is a sort of mixed bag. Stevenson was apparently capable of writing essays that were amusing and insightful, but he could also write duds.
August 16, 2011
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.
February 28, 2013
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.
August 24, 2020
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 al joven escritor, para no generarle falsas expectativas sobre el oficio. Es notable su insistencia en este sentido sobre la posibilidad de alcanzar lo que llama la "perfección técnica" (eliminación de lo inútil, acentuación de lo importante, preservación de un tono uniforme a lo largo de un cuento o novela) en la literatura a través del empeño y del coraje intelectual.
En el segundo grupo de ensayos (organizados bajo el epígrafe "El vivir como una de las bellas artes") encontramos censurada la erudición -que no permite pensar-, la lectura de diarios -que no aporta cultura alguna- y aprobados el ocio y la pereza porque es a partir de ellas que es posible mejorar nuestro carácter. Pero deseo destacar el ensayo "Pulvis et Umbra": Stevenson nos dice allí que todos los hombres se rigen por una idea del deber, por un ideal que -aunque sea el equivocado- les otorga una cierta nobleza. Podemos o no coincidir con este juicio, pero su belleza es innegable.
Finalmente tenemos las "Indagaciones sentimentales", capítulo compuesto casi en su totalidad por "Virginibus Puerisque". En este ensayo lo que al comienzo puede parecer (y es) una sagaz crítica de la elección del matrimonio, al final se descubre como una reivindicación de los que se atreven a vivir en él y -y esto es lo más importante- de los que se atreven a enfrentar conscientemente grandes desafíos.
Hechas las sumas y las restas, contamos con un libro que vale la pena. Incluso en los ensayos que pueden no atraernos Stevenson nos regalará una reflexión genial que nos dejará pensando.
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 al joven escritor, para no generarle falsas expectativas sobre el oficio. Es notable su insistencia en este sentido sobre la posibilidad de alcanzar lo que llama la "perfección técnica" (eliminación de lo inútil, acentuación de lo importante, preservación de un tono uniforme a lo largo de un cuento o novela) en la literatura a través del empeño y del coraje intelectual.
En el segundo grupo de ensayos (organizados bajo el epígrafe "El vivir como una de las bellas artes") encontramos censurada la erudición -que no permite pensar-, la lectura de diarios -que no aporta cultura alguna- y aprobados el ocio y la pereza porque es a partir de ellas que es posible mejorar nuestro carácter. Pero deseo destacar el ensayo "Pulvis et Umbra": Stevenson nos dice allí que todos los hombres se rigen por una idea del deber, por un ideal que -aunque sea el equivocado- les otorga una cierta nobleza. Podemos o no coincidir con este juicio, pero su belleza es innegable.
Finalmente tenemos las "Indagaciones sentimentales", capítulo compuesto casi en su totalidad por "Virginibus Puerisque". En este ensayo lo que al comienzo puede parecer (y es) una sagaz crítica de la elección del matrimonio, al final se descubre como una reivindicación de los que se atreven a vivir en él y -y esto es lo más importante- de los que se atreven a enfrentar conscientemente grandes desafíos.
Hechas las sumas y las restas, contamos con un libro que vale la pena. Incluso en los ensayos que pueden no atraernos Stevenson nos regalará una reflexión genial que nos dejará pensando.
October 14, 2021
Adquirí este libro por una recomendación de Mauricio Marín y Kall del canal de Youtube El Librominuto:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuE8O...
Empecé a revisar esta antología de veintiseis ensayos de Stevenson editada por el destacado intelectual argentino Alberto Manguel nada más llegar a mis manos (14 de septiembre de 2021). Sin embargo, aun no puedo decir que haya iniciado propiamente su lectura, salvo la excelente introducción del propio Manguel, donde de manera muy compacta define la personalidad literaria de Stevenson con referencia especial a su obra ensayística.
Algo en lo que, sin embargo, he invertido tiempo ha sido en subsanar una omisión editorial del editor, identificando las publicaciones originales en inglés de las que proceden cada uno de los veintises ensayos.
Finalmente, he hecho un análisis comparado de la traducción de la primera página del ensayo "A Chapter on Dreams" de esta edición de Siruela con la reciente de la editorial Páginas de Espuma, lo que me ha permitido concluir que la de primera es muy superior a la segunda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuE8O...
Empecé a revisar esta antología de veintiseis ensayos de Stevenson editada por el destacado intelectual argentino Alberto Manguel nada más llegar a mis manos (14 de septiembre de 2021). Sin embargo, aun no puedo decir que haya iniciado propiamente su lectura, salvo la excelente introducción del propio Manguel, donde de manera muy compacta define la personalidad literaria de Stevenson con referencia especial a su obra ensayística.
Algo en lo que, sin embargo, he invertido tiempo ha sido en subsanar una omisión editorial del editor, identificando las publicaciones originales en inglés de las que proceden cada uno de los veintises ensayos.
Finalmente, he hecho un análisis comparado de la traducción de la primera página del ensayo "A Chapter on Dreams" de esta edición de Siruela con la reciente de la editorial Páginas de Espuma, lo que me ha permitido concluir que la de primera es muy superior a la segunda.
January 28, 2025
Por questão de gosto pessoal, raramente leio obras de não-ficção, mas essa daqui foi uma ótima exceção e também uma agradável surpresa. Sempre gosto de ler ensaios de forma bem mais lenta, a fim de digerir melhor as ideias durante uma pausa entre os parágrafos, mas desta vez, a atraente escrita de Stevenson me trouxe uma leveza maravilhosa à leitura. A sensação que tive era como se o autor estivesse falando comigo num tranquilo diálogo entre amigos.
Nessa pequena coletânea de ensaios, Stevenson fala com propriedade de coisas que muitas vezes cheguei a refletir mas nunca consegui elucidar através de palavras, por isso me identifiquei tanto com esses textos. São assuntos que tratam do ideal aproveitamento do ócio, do valor de uma boa conversa, do prazer de um passeio a pé e até mesmo sobre como aproveitar lugares desagradáveis.
Consegui extrair desse pequeno livro muitas lições importantes que irão me acompanhar no meu dia a dia e aprimorar meu senso crítico. Obrigado, R.L.S, por me proporcionar tantos momentos frutíferos de reflexão e aprendizado.
Nessa pequena coletânea de ensaios, Stevenson fala com propriedade de coisas que muitas vezes cheguei a refletir mas nunca consegui elucidar através de palavras, por isso me identifiquei tanto com esses textos. São assuntos que tratam do ideal aproveitamento do ócio, do valor de uma boa conversa, do prazer de um passeio a pé e até mesmo sobre como aproveitar lugares desagradáveis.
Consegui extrair desse pequeno livro muitas lições importantes que irão me acompanhar no meu dia a dia e aprimorar meu senso crítico. Obrigado, R.L.S, por me proporcionar tantos momentos frutíferos de reflexão e aprendizado.
February 11, 2018
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.
April 4, 2023
timeless essays
Stevenson’s writing are always personal but these essays are deeply moving. I liked his references, his current topics, his arguments and his belief. His best books was also interesting - and does make. You wonder what he would pick today. Not sure there would be anything different.
Stevenson’s writing are always personal but these essays are deeply moving. I liked his references, his current topics, his arguments and his belief. His best books was also interesting - and does make. You wonder what he would pick today. Not sure there would be anything different.
September 15, 2019
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.
January 17, 2021
Beautifully written and so enlightening
August 14, 2022
Dense. Hard to follow his line of thought. Definitely requires a familiarity with many works of literature no longer in vogue.
November 11, 2023
librazo, la 1ra parte no estuvo tan buena, la 2da fue genial y la 3ra muy linda tambien.
March 21, 2024
If you are interested in hearing a discussion of this book on my podcast, you can check it out here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2132180/14...
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2132180/14...
September 4, 2024
Infelizmente só gostei de 2 ensaios, os outros achei bem medianos. Não foram temas que se conectaram comigo. Gostei de “O Elogio do Ócio” e “Passeios a Pé”.
July 28, 2020
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 and friendly to the reader, as if he's trying his hardest let let us in on a little secret.
ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES: One of my favorites. Seems like a response to Emerson on travel as a "fool's paradise" because it discusses
ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES: One of my favorites. Seems like a response to Emerson on travel as a "fool's paradise" because it discusses
December 27, 2020
Personal essays from RLS. Fun! Includes essays on the pleasures of conversation, a defense of idleness, thoughts on the character of dogs, and more. Bit of a tough read for the modern reader but has good footnotes. You can find the 136-page Kindle edition (listed as "The Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson") for free (currently) on Amazon, though these pieces and others are also available in larger collections. I couldn't find the exact edition here.
November 22, 2014
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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