Foreword

 



 I think we are all aware of the significant role played by literature in human history. Monumental works form the basis of whole cultures, on their basis whole philosophical currents were formed, and iconic authors and their texts created the identity of nations around the world.

 However, literature has many facets, it does not always come into being for lofty purposes, sometimes it is caused by the release of emotions, or just a whim. According to aesthets, art should be created for art's sake, because utility takes away its beauty. The Icon of Irish Literature, Oscar Wilde, in response to a letter from his fan who asked him to explain the sentence "All art is quite useless" that the author included in the preface to his best known novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", replied :


 Art is useless because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct, or to influence action in any way. It is superbly sterile, and the note of its pleasure is sterility. If the contemplation of a work of art is followed by activity of any kind, the work is either of a very second-rate order, or the spectator has failed to realise the complete artistic impression.


 But we are not here to consider the meaning of art, to conduct discourses at the academic level, to discuss literary periods and to study every book in detail. The aim of this blog is to promote books that I subjectively feel are valuable, that have built my sensitivity, allowed me to understand many things, or with which I just had a nice time. I will dedicate each post to a specific book and will try to encourage you to read it. I will explain it's characteristics, including the time in which it was written, the author's writing style, the outline of the plot (but without spoilers) and the arguments why in my opinion this book is worth your time.

Thank you for your attention and I hope that my blog will be of any value and help.

Best regards.


Komentarze

Prześlij komentarz

Popularne posty z tego bloga

Candide

  Candide   I had a dilemma about what to write in today's post, given that the previous one was dedicated to "The Picture of Dorian Gray", I thought maybe I should choose something less "obvious".  However, while making my choice, I realized that when trying to get into a discussion with someone about today's book, hardly anyone confirms that they have read it and some have not even heard of it! It's a great pity, because it's a really great, funny and valuable novel, apart from the fact that it's an absolute classic of literature (it's also quite short).  Today's topic is "Candide".     Candide is an philosophical novel, written in the Age of Enlightment by the French philosopher Voltaire, for the first time in 1759. The work is a parody of romantic and adventure novels of its era, it is saturated with irony and often sarcasm, and is a criticism of society aimed very often at the most influential of it's parts, like monarc
Czytaj więcej

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

  Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde      Today we are going to deal with a very short book because (depending on the edition) it has just over 100 pages, but just because it is short doesn't mean it's worse. On the contrary! This novel is a perfect example that quality is not equal to quantity. The theme of today's entry is a holding in suspense, another absolute classic - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.      Written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published for the first time in 1886, the novel very quickly achieved great commercial success and became one of its bestsellers. It is characterized by a balanced, but tense story to the very end. The style of writing itself is rather plain, it is one of those books that can be read as a rest from some fancy, experimental literature, from which your head hurts after a long reading. This is light and pleasant lecture, and if we take into account its quality, we get something that cannot be passed indi
Czytaj więcej

The Picture of Dorian Gray

  The Picture of Dorian Gray    I would like to dedicate my first official theme entry to a novel that is absolutely unique, not only because of how wonderful this piece of art is, but also because of how much impression it made on me when I first read it as a teenager, so this post will be quite personal. Today, we will discuss a book which, on the one hand, is an expression of an aesthetic approach to the art of the author himself, art not bound by the need to be useful, but also being a smuggled in a sophisticated way, a kind of autobiography. Ladies and gentlemen - "The Picture of Dorian Gray".    Released on June 20, 1890, it is the first and only novel by the Irish author, Oscar Wilde. At the beginning it appeared in "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine" as the main publication in this edition, immediately provoking a wave of huge criticism and outrage, but in my opinion it is very good. Great works often arouse controversy. The mannered society of that time sim
Czytaj więcej