Marcia C. reviewed The Art of the Personal Essay : An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present on + 674 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you're not studying for a class, I do not recommend this anthology. The author has an incoherent concept of "personal essay" in which many of the pieces have little personal about them, other than an individual's idiosyncratic perceptions. Yes, they are essays, but I'd be baffled to consider them *personal* essays.
All the older pieces are intolerably chatty, containing untranslated Latin quotes, and without an artful structure. Many are long and rambling.
I did start enjoying some of the selections from Virginia Woolf and George Orwell on - especially an exquisite piece contrasting Japanese and Western sensibilities about light and dark by Junichiro Tanizaki, who was new to me.
All the older pieces are intolerably chatty, containing untranslated Latin quotes, and without an artful structure. Many are long and rambling.
I did start enjoying some of the selections from Virginia Woolf and George Orwell on - especially an exquisite piece contrasting Japanese and Western sensibilities about light and dark by Junichiro Tanizaki, who was new to me.
