Classics for Pleasure

356 Pages·2008·35.252 MB·English

by  Dirda M.

.\.Ii chaeDli rdias t heb c'>l readp er;oinn \ merica.
Buth ed oesn'rutb iti n.·\·l ichal\:eiln sle1
CLASSICS
Pleasure
MICHAEL DIRDA
C/JnJ!?i. e the
c:f
PULITZER PR I Z E

Praise for
CLASSICS FOR PLEASURE
"As you read these delighrful mini-essays, rwo-ro-live pages long, mosr of
them full of glancing references ro other books besides rheir subjecrs, you
may well conclude thar Dirda has indeed read everyrhing worth reading ...
As pleasing as the works they promulgare, rhe essays, themarically grouped,
are a rrue smorgasbord for the mind-or rather, hors d' oeuvres so rasry thar
you can'r wair for the oeuvres ...T he wriring is always plain yer pungenr,
somerimes inspired, and wearing irs erudirion as lighdy as a pair oflived-in
pajamas." -John Simon, The �ekly Standard
"Casually brillianr ... Indispensable." -Publishers �ekly (srarred review)
"Dirda is a masrer of the lighr rouch-his rone is invariably cordial and mea­
sured ... His expansiveness, his love of genre licrion like derecrive novels,
give his wriring an approachabiliry lacking in so much lirerary criricism."
-Marthew Price, The Boston Globe
"A brillianr new collecrion of essays by the Pulirzer Prize-winning criric
Michael Dirda. In an age of image overload, Dirda inspires people ro
read ... Classics for Pleasure is irself a pleasure ro dip inro any rime."
-Paul Conrino, America
"Dirda's crysralline prose-ripe with disrincr and ofren exquisire dicrion ...
and his parenr love affair with lirerarure and wrirers, elevates this collection
of essays above a mere reference guide ...As Dirda writes ofJohn Webster's
'The Duchess ofMalli,' the same could be said of his book: 'It's hard ro stop
quoting."' -Chrisrine Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle
"Dirda conveys his passion for some 90 aurhors in brief essays filled wirh al­
luring quorarions, juicy minibiographies, and sharp assessmenrs ... Dirda
is both witry and wise." -Heller McAJpin, The Christian Science Monitor
"A delightful collection of short essays." -Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today
..
'One of the most riveting and enlightening books I have ever had the for­
tune to digest ... Urbane, informed, cheerful, utterly absorbed by great
stories and great storytellers in many languages and from many cultures and
creeds, Dirda manages not only to salute some 90 wonderful writers who
have slipped from the literary spotlight, but to do so with a book that you
will keep on your shelf the rest of your life and leave to your favorite grand­
child when your chapter closes." -Brian Doyle, The Christian Century
"Dirda's humor and wit are evident throughout ... Tasty samples from a
most eclectic and inviting bibliophilic menu." -Kirkus Reviews
"Reading the essays Dirda has written about each classical author will surely
whet the appetite for some of these, perhaps a great many. Keep it at the
ready." -Dennis Lythgoe, Deseret Morning News
"Classics for Pleasure is a wonderful series of surprises and revelations, lirtle
gifts for the mind that are like conversations with an old friend ... Dirda has
employed a Saturday morning movie-serial cliff-hanger style in his essays,
letting the reader know just enough to send him or her straight to the book­
store or library to find out exactly what happened next."
-Leslie Birdwell, Ohioana Quarterly
"A perfect companion for any reading group or lover of books."
-Vicki Arkoff, Midwest Book Review
"Reading Dirda's essay collection resembles sitting down in a comfy bar with
an old friend ... Like me, he's enthusiastic about his favorite books; unlike
me, he's able to point you to specific passages in scores of books that make
them relevant." -Bethanne Patrick, The Book Maven, Publishers Weekly
"Michael Dirda is back! ... Classics for Pleasure contains Dirda's thoughtful,
playful, and eloquent meditations on 88 'classics' ... Only in Dirda's book
will you find Daphne du Maurier and Georgette Heyer side by side with
Ovid, Petronius and Henry James." -Henry Carrigan, BiblioBuffet.com
CLASSICS PLEASURE
FOR
ALSO BY MICHAEL DIRDA
Book by Book:
Notes on Reading and Life
Bound to Please:
Essays on Great Writers and Their Books
An Open Book:
Chapters ftom a Reader's Life
Readings:
Essays and Literary Entertainments
Michael Dirda
CLASSICS
FOR PLEASURE
A HARVEST BOOK
HARCOURT, INC.
ORLANDO AUSTIN NEW YORK SAN DIEGO LONDON
For Marian
Copyright © 2007 by Michael Dirda
AH righrs reserved. No part of chis publication may be reproduced
or transmined in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanicaJ,
inducUng phorocopy, recording, or any information scorage
and rerrievaJ system, wilhout permission in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be
submitted online at www.harcourt.com/concact or mailed co the following address:
Permissions Department, Houghron Miffiin Harcourr Publish.ing Company,
6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida )2887�6777.
"The God Abandons Antony," translated by Aliki Barnstone and Willie Barnstone,
"As I Lounged and Lay On Their Beds," from The Colkcud Poems ofC P. Cavafj:
A New Translation by C. P. Cavafy, rranslaced by Aliki Barnstone. Copyright © 2006
by Alik.i Barnstone. Used by permission of W. W Norton & Company, lnc.
www.HarcourtBooks.com
The Library of Congress has cataJoged the hardcover edition as foUows:
Oirda, Michael.
Classics for pleasure/Michael Oirda.-1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Literarure-Hisrory and criticism. 2. Canon (Literature) I. Title.
PN52+D57 2007
2007003029
ISBN 978-0-15-101251-0
ISBN 978-0-15-603385-5 (pbk.)
Texr set in Adobe Garamond
Designed by Cathy Riggs
Primed in the United Scares of America
First Harvest edition 2008
AC E GIKJH F D B
CONTENTS
Introduction · /
PLAYFUL IMAGINATIONS
Lucian · 5
Denis Diderot · 8
Thomas Love Peacock • II
Max Beerbohm · 14
Jaroslav Hasek • 18
Ivy Compton-Burnett · 22
S. J. Perelman · 25
Italo Calvino · 29
Edward Gorey · p
HEROES OF THEIR TIME
Beowulf· 38
Abolqasem Ferdowsi · 41
The Icelandic Sagas • 44
Chrisropher Marlowe · 48
Emile Zola · 52
Ernst J linger · 55
James Agee · 60
LovE's MYSTERIES
Sappho · 65
Arthurian Romances · 67
• v •
VI CONTENTS
Marie-Madeleine de La Fayerte · 7'
Soren Kierkegaard · 73
George Meredith • 76
C. P. Cavafy · BI
Georgene Heyer · 84
Anna Akhmarova • 88
Daphne du Maurier · 92
WORDS FROM THE WISE
Lao-tse · 96
Heraclitus · 98
Cicero • wo
Erasmus • wz
The English Religious Tradition · Io6
Benedict de Spinoza · m
Samuel Johnson · u6
EVERYDAY MAGIC
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight • Izz
The Classic Fairy Tales • ''5
E. T. A. Hoffmann • Iz8
Prosper Merimee • IJI
Frances Hodgson Burnert · IJ4
E. Nesbit/John Masefield · IJ6
Walter de la Mare • I4I
LIVES OF CONSEQUENCE
Plucarch · I48
Girolamo Cardano · '5'
John Aubrey · '53
Alexander Pope · I56
Jean-Jacques Rousseau · '59