William Empson was the foremost English literary critic of the twentieth century. He was a man of huge energy and curiosity, and a genuine eccentric who remained imperturbable in the face of all the extraordinary circumstances in which he found himself. The discovery of contraceptives in his possession by a bedmaker at Cambridge University led to his being robbed of a promised Fellowship. Yet Seven Types of Ambiguity, drafted while he was still an undergraduate, promptly brought him world-wide fame. Empson invented ...
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William Empson was the foremost English literary critic of the twentieth century. He was a man of huge energy and curiosity, and a genuine eccentric who remained imperturbable in the face of all the extraordinary circumstances in which he found himself. The discovery of contraceptives in his possession by a bedmaker at Cambridge University led to his being robbed of a promised Fellowship. Yet Seven Types of Ambiguity, drafted while he was still an undergraduate, promptly brought him world-wide fame. Empson invented modern literary criticism in English. He acted too as a cultural fifth-columnist, challenging received doctrine in life and literature. "It is a very good thing for a poet to be saying something which is considered very shocking at the time," he maintained. "To become morally independent of one's formative society ... is the grandest theme of all literature, because it is the only means of moral progress." His public life took him through many of the major political events of the modern world -- the rise of imperialism in Japan, the Sino-Japanese war in China, wartime propaganda for the BBC, and the Chinese civil war and Communist takeover of Peking in 1949. His friends and critical sparring partners included I. A. Richards, Kathleen Raine, J. B. S. Haldane, Humphrey Jennings, George Orwell, Robert Lowell, Dylan Thomas, Stephen Spender, Helen Gardner, and T. S. Eliot. "It is of great importance now that writers should try to keep a certain world-mindedness," he insisted. "Without the literatures you cannot have a sense of history, and history is like the balancing-pole of the tightrope-walker ...; and nowadays we very much need the longer balancing-pole of not national but world history." His passionate world-mindedness, and his humanism, combativeness, and wit, are fully in evidence in this, the first of two volumes exploring his remarkable life and work.
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Add this copy of William Empson: Among the Mandarins (Volume 1) to cart. $25.48, fair condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, Usa.
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Volume 1. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 1250grams, ISBN: 9780199539918.
Add this copy of William Empson: Among the Mandarins to cart. $34.32, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of William Empson, Volume I: Among the Mandarins to cart. $40.71, good condition, Sold by HPB-Red rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press.
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Add this copy of William Empson, Volume I: Among the Mandarins to cart. $42.10, like new condition, Sold by Prior Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cheltenham, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Oxford University Press.
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Like New. Size: 6x1x9; In nearly new condition: firm and square with strong joints, no creases. Book looks and feels unread; thus the contents are crisp, fresh and tight. And so a very nice book in great condition, now offered for sale at a reasonable price.
Add this copy of William Empson, Volume I: Among the Mandarins to cart. $52.93, new condition, Sold by discount_scientific_books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sterling Heights, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of William Empson, Volume I: Among the Mandarins to cart. $55.17, new condition, Sold by discount_scientific_books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sterling Heights, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of William Empson: Among the Mandarins (Volume 1) to cart. $55.35, fair condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, Usa.
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Volume 1. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 3950grams, ISBN: 9780199539918.
