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bufobufo's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
It's really nice to recognize the personality of a person from so far away. I disliked a lot of his thoughts about art but in a way where I feel like I would've enjoyed talking to him about it if I was also a dandy type man of the past. He seemed to maintain his humanity and sense of justice in a world he understood to be rotten, which suggests everyone can.
alexanderp's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
A brief collection of essays that I believe--I wasn't in the right headspace to read at the moment. The last two essays come close to saving the collection for me, but overall because of history and context, the impact of them is lost on me. I can say that Hazlitt is an exciting writer, I just need to find the right book from him next time.
theaurochs's review against another edition
2.0
A large vocabulary draped over some rather small ideas. A very disappointing entry in the Great Ideas series, which are often a joy to read, or enlightening. I try to find as wide a range of philosophies to read as possible; it does you little good to only read things that you agree with or that align with your worldview. But Hazlitt’s work is barely philosophy- it is at best political rambling. This is not helped by the horrendously verbose nature of his prose. I often got to the end of a paragraph thinking “Well that was nicely written, but what was the actual content there?”- so little is actually expressed, yet so much time is taken to express it. The first essay in this collection, The Fight, spends 26 pages telling the story of Hazlitt going to watch a boxing match; tedious barely begins to cover it.
The title had me very intrigued; On The Pleasure of Hating suggests a philosophical defence of hatred, but we are treated to only a hint of that before being dragged back into mundane anecdotes again. I would genuinely love to read a detailed defence of anger or hatred, that sounds way more interesting.
It’s entirely possible that I’m missing lots of context for this as Hazlitt is often cited as one of the greatest essayists in English. Based on this selection, I’m not at all convinced.
The title had me very intrigued; On The Pleasure of Hating suggests a philosophical defence of hatred, but we are treated to only a hint of that before being dragged back into mundane anecdotes again. I would genuinely love to read a detailed defence of anger or hatred, that sounds way more interesting.
It’s entirely possible that I’m missing lots of context for this as Hazlitt is often cited as one of the greatest essayists in English. Based on this selection, I’m not at all convinced.
imogenrobinson__'s review
3.0
Hazlitt is witty and wise.
I didn't love the sportswriting piece at the start but really enjoyed his other essays - he makes many insightful comments on a variety of topics.
I didn't love the sportswriting piece at the start but really enjoyed his other essays - he makes many insightful comments on a variety of topics.
ipb1's review against another edition
4.0
What could be more relevant or apt for C21 than Hazlitt's "On the Pleasure of Hating". A great little 'taster' selection of his essays.
For all the vivid 19thC colour and detail a lot of Hazlitt's sensibility is strikingly modern. I wonder if anyone else has noticed? Oh - [b:William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man|5761153|William Hazlitt The First Modern Man|Duncan Wu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349040568l/5761153._SX50_.jpg|5932884]. Well, there you go then.
P.S. could we preface every political column, broadcast, speech, show with;
For all the vivid 19thC colour and detail a lot of Hazlitt's sensibility is strikingly modern. I wonder if anyone else has noticed? Oh - [b:William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man|5761153|William Hazlitt The First Modern Man|Duncan Wu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349040568l/5761153._SX50_.jpg|5932884]. Well, there you go then.
P.S. could we preface every political column, broadcast, speech, show with;
"All power is but an unabated nuisance, a barbarous assumption, an aggravated injustice, that is not directed to the common good: all grandeur that has not something corresponding to it in personal merit and heroic acts, is a deliberate burlesque, and an insult on common sense and human nature."
ipb1's review
4.0
What could be more relevant or apt for C21 than Hazlitt's "On the Pleasure of Hating". A great little 'taster' selection of his essays.
For all the vivid 19thC colour and detail a lot of Hazlitt's sensibility is strikingly modern. I wonder if anyone else has noticed? Oh - [b:William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man|5761153|William Hazlitt The First Modern Man|Duncan Wu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349040568l/5761153._SX50_.jpg|5932884]. Well, there you go then.
P.S. could we preface every political column, broadcast, speech, show with;
For all the vivid 19thC colour and detail a lot of Hazlitt's sensibility is strikingly modern. I wonder if anyone else has noticed? Oh - [b:William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man|5761153|William Hazlitt The First Modern Man|Duncan Wu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349040568l/5761153._SX50_.jpg|5932884]. Well, there you go then.
P.S. could we preface every political column, broadcast, speech, show with;
"All power is but an unabated nuisance, a barbarous assumption, an aggravated injustice, that is not directed to the common good: all grandeur that has not something corresponding to it in personal merit and heroic acts, is a deliberate burlesque, and an insult on common sense and human nature."
clairreexo's review against another edition
3.0
I first thought this was a bit annoying but then I realized the time this was written and now I think he's based.