Define About Books Eminent Victorians
| Title | : | Eminent Victorians |
| Author | : | Lytton Strachey |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 571 pages |
| Published | : | August 27th 1993 by Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group (first published 1918) |
| Categories | : | Biography. History. Nonfiction. Historical. Victorian. Classics. European Literature. British Literature |
Lytton Strachey
Hardcover | Pages: 571 pages Rating: 3.76 | 2027 Users | 134 Reviews
Narration In Favor Of Books Eminent Victorians
A wonderfully witty book that, a century ago, forever burst the bubble of glory that had up till then so reverently encased the shimmering Victorian Empire.I read it as a young guy and laughed uproariously at its irreverence, delighting all the while in Strachey’s finely pointed prose.
To the bohemian denizens of London’s Bloomsbury District, Strachey’s oddly iconoclastic vantage point, his languid and world-weary witticisms and his immense mastery of his subject matter must have elevated him to urban myth status in their eyes.
He turned Oscar Wilde’s dandyism into a form of cackling self-caricature in his stovepipe hat and collar-length black beard, loping down London boulevards with a John Lennon grin.
He was too cool for rules.
And he’s not widely read now. Indeed, his cleverness was never an adjunct of substance.
Substance was the very balloon he wished to burst!
But wit doesn’t always pay the bills. And you don’t get into heaven on irreverence.
There has to be a middle ground in life, because extremes have no staying power. If you want to reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, you don’t go around with a chip on your shoulder.
Many of us who laughed with Strachey when young now see a far greater value in the middle way he mocked.
These upstanding Victorians he wrote about worked hard for their faith, and deserve our gratitude and respect, not our sneers.
No, for as F.R. Leavis said, we are all part of the milieu of the Great Tradition.
Even if we trash it.
Mention Books During Eminent Victorians
| Original Title: | Eminent Victorians |
| ISBN: | 0701160535 (ISBN13: 9780701160531) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold, Charles George Gordon |
Rating About Books Eminent Victorians
Ratings: 3.76 From 2027 Users | 134 ReviewsCriticize About Books Eminent Victorians
A wonderfully witty book that, a century ago, forever burst the bubble of glory that had up till then so reverently encased the shimmering Victorian Empire.I read it as a young guy and laughed uproariously at its irreverence, delighting all the while in Stracheys finely pointed prose.To the bohemian denizens of Londons Bloomsbury District, Stracheys oddly iconoclastic vantage point, his languid and world-weary witticisms and his immense mastery of his subject matter must have elevated him toOne should rather read Lytton Stracheys Eminent Victorians if one is interested to gain an insight into how Strachey dismounts with relish Victorian heroes and values. My motivation to read this book has been generated from my interest in the Bloomsbury Group, which the eccentric Lytton Strachey (1880 1933) was a prominent member of. The Bloomsbury Group with its writers, artists, philosophers and intellectuals challenged Victorian and Edwardian values and Stracheys witty and ironic reckoning
I'd always wanted to read this collection of four Victorian biographies, ever since I saw the 1995 movie Carrington based on the life of Strachey with painter Dora Carrington. Lytton Strachey 's Eminent Victorians gives us short lives of Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Thomas Arnold of Rugby, and Charles "Chinese" Gordon of Khartoum. Strachey's style is sprightly and ironic, particular in the lives of Manning and Gordon, which broadly lampoon church and British parliamentary
This is a marvelous collection of short biographies for four great figures of the Victorian age: Dr. Arnold, Florence Nightingale, Cardinal Manning and General Gordon. Strachey's wit is no less cutting than his pen, exposing with relentless precision the hypocrisy, the ambition, the immorality and in some cases outright cruelty of some of the Victorian age's most treasured legends. In so doing, he makes a powerful argument for the art of the biography against the questionable value of idealized
From this book I learned that there is a Catholic saint called Pantaloon.I like Strachey's writing. I've seen it described as "bitchy," but I don't think that's right at all. I would call it unstinting. I also liked how Arthur Clough randomly wandered through all four narratives (and Gladstone, too, but that seems a bit less random to me).The stories about Khartoum were horrible in so many ways. Augh!
I read Eminent Victorians many years ago, but, as with almost very book Ive reread, Ive enjoyed it more the second time. Its partly, I think, that I have learnt more about how to read, particularly the long sentences, complexities, and extravagant rhetoric of Victorian writing. Im currently reading Thackerays Newcomes and Ruskins Unto This Last, both of which display the literary lusciousness Ive come to enjoy.I probably have also enjoyed the book more second time because Ive encountered more of
A friend recommended this, but it does drag on with religious minutae--not the narrative speed we expect today. Buried in there, some interesting debunking of myth about those eminent Victorians.
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