An Experiment in Criticism / Edition 1

by C. S. Lewis

Overview

Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? C. S. Lewis's classic An Experiment in Criticism springs from the conviction that literature exists for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite. He argues that 'good reading', like moral action or religious experience, involves surrender to the work in hand and a process of entering fully into the opinions of others: 'in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself'. Crucial to his notion of judging literature is a commitment to laying aside expectations and values extraneous to the work, in order to approach it with an open mind. Amid the complex welter of current critical theories, C. S. Lewis's wisdom is valuably down-to-earth, refreshing and stimulating in the questions it raises about the experience of reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107604728
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/26/2012
Series:	Canto Classics
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	152
Sales rank:	237,303
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, theologian, broadcaster, and lecturer. He is best known for his fictional works, including The Screwtape Letters, The Space Trilogy, and The Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the second book in the seven-book Narnia series, often tops must-read lists of classic children's literature; the series has been adapted for film, radio, TV, and the stage.

Date of Birth:

November 29, 1898

Date of Death:

November 22, 1963

Place of Birth:

Belfast, Nothern Ireland

Place of Death:

Headington, England

Education:

Oxford University 1917-1923; Elected fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1925

Website:

http://www.cslewisclassics.com

Table of Contents

1. The few and the many; 2. False characterisations; 3. How the few and the many use pictures and music; 4. The reading of the unliterary; 5. On myth; 6. The meanings of fantasy; 7. On realisms; 8. On misreading by the literary; 9. Survey; 10. Poetry; 11. The experiment; Epilogue; Appendix.

Editorial Reviews

'Lewis is at one and the same time provocative, tactful, biased, open-minded, old-fashioned, far-seeing, very annoying and very wise.' Church Times

'This genuinely provocative little book … Professor Lewis makes the best case against evaluative criticism that I have read.' David Daiches, New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher