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Precious Nonsense : The Gettysburg Address, Ben Jonson's Epitaphs on His Children, and Twelfth Night by Stephen Booth (1998, Hardcover)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of California Press
ISBN-100520212886
ISBN-139780520212886
eBay Product ID (ePID)1054809
Product Key Features
Number of Pages216 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NamePrecious Nonsense : the Gettysburg Address, Ben Jonson's Epitaphs on His Children, and Twelfth Night
Publication Year1998
SubjectEuropean / General, Shakespeare, United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), Semiotics & Theory, European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
TypeTextbook
AuthorStephen Booth
Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Drama, History
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight16.2 Oz
Item Length8.2 in
Item Width5.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
LCCN97-027979
Dewey Edition21
Dewey Decimal820.9
SynopsisWhy do we value literature so? Many would say for the experience it brings us. But what is it about that experience that makes us treasure certain writings above others? Stephen Booth suggests that the greatest appeal of our most valued works may be that they are, in one way or another, nonsensical. He uses three disparate texts--the Gettysburg Address, Ben Jonson's epitaphs on his children, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night --to demonstrate how poetics triumphs over logic in the invigorating mental activity that enriches our experience of reading. Booth presents his case in a book that is crisply playful while at the same time thoroughly analytical. He demonstrates the lapses in logic and the irrational connections in examples of very different types of literature, showing how they come close to incoherence yet maintain for the reader a reliable order and purpose. Ultimately, Booth argues, literature gives us the capacity to cope effortlessly with, and even to transcend, the complicated and demanding mental experiences it generates for us. This book is in part a witty critique of the trends--old and new--of literary criticism, written by an accomplished and gifted scholar. But it is also a testimony to the power of the process of reading itself. Precious Nonsense is certain to bring pleasure to anyone interested in language and its beguiling possibilities., Why do we value literature so? Many would say for the experience it brings us. But what is it about that experience that makes us treasure certain writings above others? Stephen Booth suggests that the greatest appeal of our most valued works may be that they are, in one way or another, nonsensical. He uses three disparate texts--the Gettysburg Address, Ben Jonson's epitaphs on his children, and Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night--to demonstrate how poetics triumphs over logic in the invigorating mental activity that enriches our experience of reading. Booth presents his case in a book that is crisply playful while at the same time thoroughly analytical. He demonstrates the lapses in logic and the irrational connections in examples of very different types of literature, showing how they come close to incoherence yet maintain for the reader a reliable order and purpose. Ultimately, Booth argues, literature gives us the capacity to cope effortlessly with, and even to transcend, the complicated and demanding mental experiences it generates for us. This book is in part a witty critique of the trends--old and new--of literary criticism, written by an accomplished and gifted scholar. But it is also a testimony to the power of the process of reading itself.Precious Nonsenseis certain to bring pleasure to anyone interested in language and its beguiling possibilities.
LC Classification Number97-27979
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