Consolation in the Face of Death

by Samuel Johnson

In his moving essay, Samuel Johnson offers wise words on confronting grief at the loss of a loved one. The other pieces here, ranging from art to marriage to morality, demonstrate the brilliance, perception and wit that made Johnson the leading man of letters of his day, and one of the finest essayists in the English language. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays

126 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

People note British writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, known as "Doctor Johnson," for his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), for Lives of the Poets (1781), and for his series of essays, published under the titles The Rambler (1752) and The Idler (1758).

Samuel Johnson used the first consistent Universal Etymological English Dictionary , first published in 1721, of British lexicographer Nathan Bailey as a reference.

Beginning as a journalist on Grub street, this English author made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, and editor. People described Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history." James Boswell subjected him to Life of Samuel Johnson , one of the most celebrated biographies in English. This biography alongside other biographies, documented behavior and mannerisms of Johnson in such detail that they informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome (TS), a condition unknown to 18th-century physicians. He presented a tall and robust figure, but his odd gestures and tics confused some persons on their first encounters.

Johnson attended Pembroke college, Oxford for a year before his lack of funds compelled him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London, where he began to write essays for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage and the poem " The Vanity of Human Wishes ." Christian morality permeated works of Johnson, a devout and compassionate man. He, a conservative Anglican, nevertheless respected persons of other denominations that demonstrated a commitment to teachings of Christ.

After nine years of work, people in 1755 published his preeminent Dictionary of the English Language, bringing him popularity and success until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1905, a century and a half later. In the following years, he published essays, an influential annotated edition of plays of William Shakespeare, and the well-read novel Rasselas . In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland , travel narrative of Johnson, described the journey. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets , which includes biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets.

After a series of illnesses, Johnson died on the evening; people buried his body in Westminster abbey. In the years following death, people began to recognize a lasting effect of Samuel Johnson on literary criticism even as the only great critic of English literature.

Reviews

[James Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnson’s Rambler and Idler entries are pleasing. You can access all of his entries through the ‘Delphi Complete Works’ series. Often when just flicking through them you gleam his remarkable brilliance, exempli gratia;

Saturday, May 26th, 1759. (4 Years after his dictionary published)

“Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours, from time to time, in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance.

Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment. Wits and humourists are brought together from distant quarters by preconcerted invitations; they come, attended by their admirers, prepared to laugh and to applaud; they gaze awhile on each other, ashamed to be silent, and afraid to speak; every man is discontented with himself, grows angry with those that give him pain, and resolves that he will contribute nothing to the merriment of such worthless company. Wine inflames the general malignity, and changes sullenness to petulance, till at last none can bear any longer the presence of the rest. They retire to vent their indignation in safer places, where they are heard with attention; their importance is restored, they recover their good humour, and gladden the night with wit and jocularity.”

Excerpt From
Complete Works of Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson

This I highlighted long ago.

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these 15 essays by Samuel Johnson was not easy due to his highly-descriptive narrations of his logical arguments and practical ideas, more or less, unfamiliar to his readers some 200 years later. However, I found some excerpts in his three essays interestingly witty and instructive:

1. The Role of the Scholar
To read, write, and converse in due proportions, is, therefore, the business of a man of letters. For all these there is not often equal opportunity; excellence, therefore, is not often attainable; and most men fail in one or other of the ends proposed, and are full without readiness, or ready without exactness. ... (p. 86)

2. Consolation in the Face of Death
That it is vain to shrink from what cannot be avoided, and to hide that from ourselves which must some time be found, is a truth which we all know, but which all neglect, and perhaps none more than the speculative reasoner, whose thoughts are always from home, ..., and who examines every thing rather than his one state. (p. 114)

3. The Nature of a Critic
... All the other powers of literature are coy and haughty, they must be long courted, and at last are not always gained; but Criticism is a goddess easy of access and forward of advance, who will meet the slow and encourage the timorous; the want of meaning she supplies with words, and the want of spirit she recompensed with malignity. (p. 117)

Moreover, if you would like to read more on this 67th paperback or other renowned authors published by Penguin Books in its "Great Ideas" series ranging from No. 1 Seneca On the Shortness of Life, No. 2 Marcus Aurelius Meditations, No. 3 St Augustine Confessions of a Sinner; to No. 80 John Berger Why Look at Animals? I think you can still find them in some good bookstores or ask them to place an order for you, or you can contact the publisher itself via the Internet and I'm sure those in charge at Penguin would be delighted to help you as one of the series' interested readers.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect slim primer to the Doc. Wit and wisdom are the same word, remember. Side note: more or less the entire Penguin Great Ideas series is worth more than the paper its printed on.

[Lauren Makepeace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have carried this book with me for nearly a year, snatching spare moments when waiting for an appointment or meeting with a friend to read a few pages, or one of the articles.
I have to say it's been a pleasure to engage in Johnson's discourse. There were a number of articles I particularly liked, and I enjoyed that they required consideration, and the occasional research to find the meaning of a word no longer is common usage.
I especially liked 'A Compleat Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage' - I thought this was a hilarious way of presenting his opinion, by saying exactly the opposite in such an overt way as to be completely farcical. I was excited that this article on licensing plays written over 300 years ago cracked me up a number of times.
'The Role of the Scholar' was another poignant, and decidedly relevant, piece. I thought it timely that I was reading about the importance of both research AND discourse/debate about topics, and how necessary it was to be able to convey one's understandings to others, and to think on the viewpoints of others.
'Observations on the Present State of Affairs' was excellent, a commentary on how the French and English were fighting over land in the Americas - land which didn't belong to them in the first place. I particularly appreciated his comments about how those who settled in America 'on the fairest terms' (without practising the utmost extremity of wrong), were no better than those who took by force.
Lastly, I want to share my favourite part from 'The Vultures' View of Man', which, in my opinion, is rather delightful.
'His [a wise, elderly vulture] opinion was that men had only the appearance of animal life, being really vegetables with a power of motion; and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the storm, that swine may fatten upon the falling acorns, so men are by some unaccountable power driven one against another, til they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed.'

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.

[Stuart Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most accessible entry in the Great Ideas series, as the archaic syntax and spelling make for a challenging read. The English language has clearly undergone many changes since the 18th century, which isn't helped by the paucity of introductory sections and footnotes.

Here is the frontispiece:

Samuel Johnson 1709-1784

Clearly not very illuminating.

I found some of the essays quite interesting, whilst others were impenetrable as I had no idea what Johnson was talking about. Overall, not a bad read but suffers from some repetition despite the short length (two essays are about epitaphs for example). For those unfamiliar to Johnson the provision of some explanatory text to explain the context of the pieces would have improved the book a great deal.

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these essays are really worth a read; others are just sort of alright. Well worth a read.