The Life of Samuel Johnson
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3.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
This book is considered by many to be the finest literary biography ever published. Samuel Johnson was the leading literary scholar and critic of his age, helping to define the Augustan Age of English Literature. He is as celebrated for his brilliant conversation as he is for his writing. He began contributing to London magazine around 1737 on literary and political subjects. Johnson's place in history and literature was assured with the publication of his Dictionary of the English Language, the first comprehensive English lexicography. In 1763 Johnson met James Boswell and, by 1791,
The Life of Samuel Johnson appeared. Boswell recorded Johnson's conversation so minutely that Johnson is better remembered today for his sayings than for his own literary work. His biography is generally regarded as one of the greatest in the language.
Customer Reviews
Lacklustre reading of a sparkling biography
This is a very slightly abridged version of Boswell’s brilliant Life of Johnson. For example, it omits some of Johnson’s poems and translations, which Boswell quotes at length. That still left it far more complete than any other version I have come across.
The narrator speaks slowly and enunciates each word clearly (the preview is a reasonable sample), but with little variation of expression, tone or pace. At over 32 hours, this was not the pleasure to listen to it should have been. Nor was it helped by numerous mispronunciations and misreadings e.g. “lexographer” instead of “lexicographer” and almost all place names.
Fascinating Work
This is a fascinating book if you are into history and/or literature. It details the everyday life of perhaps the most celebrated man of the
18th century. I thought the reading style suited the book very well.
WOW!
I almost bought this book on cassettes at a cost of over $100!! Am I glad I waited. It's abridged but only slightly and the reader is quite good.
Can't belive the price for a 32 hour book but... I'll take it!