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jonbrammer's review
4.0
At the end of his Life of Johnson, James Boswell admits to many of his subject's faults: Johnson's irascibility, his prejudices, his narrow-mindedness in religion and politics. Johnson was a conservative with a capital C, and he is outright dismissive of many of the important philosophical ideas of his time (there is little consideration of Locke, Hume or Smith, much less Kant).
Instead, Johnson is known has the foremost literary figure of 18th Century London. He was not a man of ideas; rather, he was a man of language, and his greatest achievement was to codify that language in his Dictionary. Again, this project was an essentially conservative endeavor, an attempt to protect and elevate the language so that the uneducated masses could be kept in their linguistic place.
The Romantics that followed represented a rebellion against this staid, elitist, infighting group of literati that includes Addison, Steele, Pope and Johnson. Instead of engaging in a game of wits against their intellectual rivals, the Romantics sought to expand the possibilities of language by infusing it with a more natural, vernacular, personal and passionate approach. The writers of the Age of Johnson were essentially backwards looking, translating and retranslating the Greeks and Romans, writing criticism on Shakespeare. The Romantics were visionary and progressive. johnson would have probably scoffed at the likes of a Keats or a Blake as being too radical and impolite in their poetic visions.
Boswell's life of Johnson is confusing in that, while it is a warts and all depiction of the good doctor, the reader is a left with a sense that Boswell looks at his subject through the rose-colored lenses of a literary acolyte. What are we meant to think of this complicated man?
Instead, Johnson is known has the foremost literary figure of 18th Century London. He was not a man of ideas; rather, he was a man of language, and his greatest achievement was to codify that language in his Dictionary. Again, this project was an essentially conservative endeavor, an attempt to protect and elevate the language so that the uneducated masses could be kept in their linguistic place.
The Romantics that followed represented a rebellion against this staid, elitist, infighting group of literati that includes Addison, Steele, Pope and Johnson. Instead of engaging in a game of wits against their intellectual rivals, the Romantics sought to expand the possibilities of language by infusing it with a more natural, vernacular, personal and passionate approach. The writers of the Age of Johnson were essentially backwards looking, translating and retranslating the Greeks and Romans, writing criticism on Shakespeare. The Romantics were visionary and progressive. johnson would have probably scoffed at the likes of a Keats or a Blake as being too radical and impolite in their poetic visions.
Boswell's life of Johnson is confusing in that, while it is a warts and all depiction of the good doctor, the reader is a left with a sense that Boswell looks at his subject through the rose-colored lenses of a literary acolyte. What are we meant to think of this complicated man?
avinsh10's review
5.0
"A bright polished mirror reflects the face of Boswell peeping between other people’s shoulders in the famous biography."- Virginia Woolf, "Montaigne"
The Life of Samuel Johnson is a 1200+ pages biography. It is a tome but doesn't read like one. James Boswell narrates the life of his dearest friend with charm, passion, silliness, and great profundity. We get a towering figure with tremendous insight, conflicting political opinions, piousness, and a kind heart.
"Sir, as a man advances in life, he gets what is better than admiration, -judgment, to estimate things at their true value." - Dr. Johnson
The first 250 pages cover Johnson's birth to Boswell's entrance. Boswell introduces us to three important figures in Johnson's life: Father, Mother, and his Wife. Johnson rose from his humble living to his iconic status with help of hard work and sheer talent. He had a knack for languages, picking up Latin & Greek early in his life. For him, gaining a noble status meant a lot. As a result, he was a fierce Tory. Boswell on the other hand was brought up as a nobleman and a Scotsman. Though Johnson was sympathetic towards the Irish he opposed the Scotish & the American rebellion. However, they were both against slavery. As you can see theirs was a complicated relationship.
"The longer we live, and the more we think, the higher value we learn to put on the friendship and tenderness of parents and of friends." - Dr. Johnson
Boswell shows us the sensitive & caring side of Johnson. For Johnson, his wife & mother meant the world. Johnson was deeply concerned about Boswell's relationship with his father. Often advising him to reconcile and set aside the differences. Johnson also longed for a cordial friendship with Boswell's wife. Their letters capture this affection arrestingly.
"While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, then amusement will dissipate the remains of it."- Dr. Johnson
We see Johnson being affected by grief while also being considerate towards those who are grieving. We see him cripple not only due to his depression but also by loss. I think, Boswell writing this biography seven years after Johnson's death was the dissipating of his own grief.
"A man so afflicted, Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with them."- Dr. Johnson
Johnson spent most of his time reading and writing. He complied a successful version of the dictionary. He gained fame with his Idler & Rambler essays. He translated and wrote commentaries on severe Latin & Greek poems. He wrote travel journals and composed prayers. Towards the end of his life, he compiled an edition of Shakespeare and short biographies of English poets. If that wasn't enough he spend a huge portion of his time discoursing at his club. Borges in his lecture suggests that Johnson was aware that after his passing, people would share their memories of him. Thus, he spent more time speaking than writing.
"This is true, because the more writers develop their characters, the better they get to know them. So, that's how we have a character who is sometimes ridiculous, but who can be serious and have profound thoughts, and above all is one of the most beloved characters in all of history."- Borges, comparing Johnson & Don Quixote, "A Course on English Literature"
Boswell was also aware of Johnson's legacy and he helped steer the course. He would often ask leading questions to capture Johnson's response, often by deprecating himself and facing Johnson's anger. Even tried to pit Johnson against his critic. Just like a scientist observing particles collision.
"If a man is to write A Pangeyrick, he may keep vices out of sight: but if he professes to write A Life, he must represent it really as it was"- Dr. Johnson
Did Boswell write a Pangeyrick? I can't quite determine that. Boswell definitely places the spotlight on certain traits more than others. There was definitely a conscious effort to capture the spirit of his subject. By occasionally contrasting his views, he creates a dialogue & a background to Johnson's foreground.
"We must confess the faults of our favourite, to gain credit to our praise of his excellencies." - Dr. Johnson
"Boswell sets himself up almost as a separate creature for himself up almost as a separate creature for himself to contemplate, sometimes in assumed roles of a literary kind, as the hero of a novel or play; and social in the many scenes, in both the journals and the Life of Johnson, which he engineered, stimulated or viewed with a quiet peculiar combination of witness and a participant." - Claude Rawson, Introduction
What rais'd our virtue here below.
Shall aid our happiness above. - Dr. Johnson
The Life of Samuel Johnson is a 1200+ pages biography. It is a tome but doesn't read like one. James Boswell narrates the life of his dearest friend with charm, passion, silliness, and great profundity. We get a towering figure with tremendous insight, conflicting political opinions, piousness, and a kind heart.
"Sir, as a man advances in life, he gets what is better than admiration, -judgment, to estimate things at their true value." - Dr. Johnson
The first 250 pages cover Johnson's birth to Boswell's entrance. Boswell introduces us to three important figures in Johnson's life: Father, Mother, and his Wife. Johnson rose from his humble living to his iconic status with help of hard work and sheer talent. He had a knack for languages, picking up Latin & Greek early in his life. For him, gaining a noble status meant a lot. As a result, he was a fierce Tory. Boswell on the other hand was brought up as a nobleman and a Scotsman. Though Johnson was sympathetic towards the Irish he opposed the Scotish & the American rebellion. However, they were both against slavery. As you can see theirs was a complicated relationship.
"The longer we live, and the more we think, the higher value we learn to put on the friendship and tenderness of parents and of friends." - Dr. Johnson
Boswell shows us the sensitive & caring side of Johnson. For Johnson, his wife & mother meant the world. Johnson was deeply concerned about Boswell's relationship with his father. Often advising him to reconcile and set aside the differences. Johnson also longed for a cordial friendship with Boswell's wife. Their letters capture this affection arrestingly.
"While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, then amusement will dissipate the remains of it."- Dr. Johnson
We see Johnson being affected by grief while also being considerate towards those who are grieving. We see him cripple not only due to his depression but also by loss. I think, Boswell writing this biography seven years after Johnson's death was the dissipating of his own grief.
"A man so afflicted, Sir, must divert distressing thoughts, and not combat with them."- Dr. Johnson
Johnson spent most of his time reading and writing. He complied a successful version of the dictionary. He gained fame with his Idler & Rambler essays. He translated and wrote commentaries on severe Latin & Greek poems. He wrote travel journals and composed prayers. Towards the end of his life, he compiled an edition of Shakespeare and short biographies of English poets. If that wasn't enough he spend a huge portion of his time discoursing at his club. Borges in his lecture suggests that Johnson was aware that after his passing, people would share their memories of him. Thus, he spent more time speaking than writing.
"This is true, because the more writers develop their characters, the better they get to know them. So, that's how we have a character who is sometimes ridiculous, but who can be serious and have profound thoughts, and above all is one of the most beloved characters in all of history."- Borges, comparing Johnson & Don Quixote, "A Course on English Literature"
Boswell was also aware of Johnson's legacy and he helped steer the course. He would often ask leading questions to capture Johnson's response, often by deprecating himself and facing Johnson's anger. Even tried to pit Johnson against his critic. Just like a scientist observing particles collision.
"If a man is to write A Pangeyrick, he may keep vices out of sight: but if he professes to write A Life, he must represent it really as it was"- Dr. Johnson
Did Boswell write a Pangeyrick? I can't quite determine that. Boswell definitely places the spotlight on certain traits more than others. There was definitely a conscious effort to capture the spirit of his subject. By occasionally contrasting his views, he creates a dialogue & a background to Johnson's foreground.
"We must confess the faults of our favourite, to gain credit to our praise of his excellencies." - Dr. Johnson
"Boswell sets himself up almost as a separate creature for himself up almost as a separate creature for himself to contemplate, sometimes in assumed roles of a literary kind, as the hero of a novel or play; and social in the many scenes, in both the journals and the Life of Johnson, which he engineered, stimulated or viewed with a quiet peculiar combination of witness and a participant." - Claude Rawson, Introduction
What rais'd our virtue here below.
Shall aid our happiness above. - Dr. Johnson
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