The Contrary Experience

by Herbert Read

Book by Herbert Read

Genres: Nonfiction

356 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 1974

About the author

Sir Herbert Edward Read, (December 4, 1893 - June 12, 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education.

Politically, Read considered himself an anarchist, albeit in the English quietist tradition of Edward Carpenter and William Morris. Read was co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Art & the publisher and editor-in-chief of Jung's collected works in English.

On 11 November 1985, Read was among 16 Great War poets commemorated on a slate stone unveiled in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner.

He was the father of the well-known writer Piers Paul Read, the BBC documentary maker John Read, the BBC producer and executive Tom Read, and the art historian Ben Read.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitle is "Autobiographies." Book is in four parts, each written at different times. 1) brief reflections on his earliest memories; 2) World War I correspondence; 3) later reflections on his development; 4) reflections on his later life. Very unusual; has lots to say about development of art and awareness. Published 1963, five years before Read's death.