Read A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete)

A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete)

George Saintsbury

4.9/5 (22998 ratings)

Description:In beginning what, if it ever gets finished, must in all probability be the last of some already perhaps too numerous studies of literary history, I should like to point out that the plan of it is somewhat different from that of most, if not all, of its predecessors. I have usually gone on the principle (which I still think a sound one) that, in studying the literature of a country, or in dealing with such general characteristics of parts of literature as prosody, or such coefficients of all literature as criticism, minorities are, sometimes at least, of as much importance as majorities, and that to omit them altogether is to risk, or rather to assure, an imperfect—and dangerously imperfect—product. In the present instance, however, I am attempting something that I have never, at such length, attempted before—the history of a Kind, and a Kind which has distinguished itself, as few others have done, by communicating to readers the pleasure of literature. I might almost say that it is the history of that pleasure, quite as much as the history of the kind itself, that I wish to trace. In doing so it is obviously superfluous to include inferiorities and failures, unless they have some very special lesson or interest, or have been (as in the case of the minorities on the bridge of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) for the most part, and unduly, neglected, though they are important as experiments and links. We really do want here—what the reprehensible hedonism of Mr. Matthew Arnold, and his submission to what some one has called "the eternal enemy, Caprice," wanted in all cases—"only the chief and principal things." I wish to give a full history of how what is commonly called the French Novel came into being and kept itself in being; but I do not wish to give an exhaustive, though I hope to give a pretty full, account of its practitioners. In another point, however, I have kept to my old ways, and that is the way of beginning at the beginning. I disagree utterly with any Balbus who would build an absolute wall between romance and novel, or a wall hardly less absolute between verse- and prose-fiction. I think the French have (what is not common in their language) an advantage over us in possessing the general term Roman, and I have perhaps taken a certain liberty with my own title in order to keep the noun-part of it to a single word. I shall extend the meaning of "novel"—that of roman would need no extension—to include, not only the prose books, old and new, which are more generally called "romance," but the verse romances of the earlier periodWe have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete). To get started finding A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete), you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: 435

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: N/A

Release: 1917

ISBN: 1465549943

Description: In beginning what, if it ever gets finished, must in all probability be the last of some already perhaps too numerous studies of literary history, I should like to point out that the plan of it is somewhat different from that of most, if not all, of its predecessors. I have usually gone on the principle (which I still think a sound one) that, in studying the literature of a country, or in dealing with such general characteristics of parts of literature as prosody, or such coefficients of all literature as criticism, minorities are, sometimes at least, of as much importance as majorities, and that to omit them altogether is to risk, or rather to assure, an imperfect—and dangerously imperfect—product. In the present instance, however, I am attempting something that I have never, at such length, attempted before—the history of a Kind, and a Kind which has distinguished itself, as few others have done, by communicating to readers the pleasure of literature. I might almost say that it is the history of that pleasure, quite as much as the history of the kind itself, that I wish to trace. In doing so it is obviously superfluous to include inferiorities and failures, unless they have some very special lesson or interest, or have been (as in the case of the minorities on the bridge of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) for the most part, and unduly, neglected, though they are important as experiments and links. We really do want here—what the reprehensible hedonism of Mr. Matthew Arnold, and his submission to what some one has called "the eternal enemy, Caprice," wanted in all cases—"only the chief and principal things." I wish to give a full history of how what is commonly called the French Novel came into being and kept itself in being; but I do not wish to give an exhaustive, though I hope to give a pretty full, account of its practitioners. In another point, however, I have kept to my old ways, and that is the way of beginning at the beginning. I disagree utterly with any Balbus who would build an absolute wall between romance and novel, or a wall hardly less absolute between verse- and prose-fiction. I think the French have (what is not common in their language) an advantage over us in possessing the general term Roman, and I have perhaps taken a certain liberty with my own title in order to keep the noun-part of it to a single word. I shall extend the meaning of "novel"—that of roman would need no extension—to include, not only the prose books, old and new, which are more generally called "romance," but the verse romances of the earlier periodWe have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete). To get started finding A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete), you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete)

A History of the French Novel:From the Beginning to the Close of the 19th Century (Complete)

More Books

The Beatles - Super Easy Songbook | 60 Classic Songs for Beginner Piano Players | Easy Piano Sheet Music for Students Teachers and Fans | Simple Melodies Chord Diagrams and Note Names

The Beatles - Super Easy Songbook | 60 Classic Songs for Beginner Piano Players | Easy Piano Sheet Music for Students Teachers and Fans | Simple Melodies Chord Diagrams and Note Names

Hard Checked: Hartford Hawks Hockey Romance (Close Contact)

Hard Checked: Hartford Hawks Hockey Romance (Close Contact)

The Beatles Sheet Music Collection | Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook with Chords and Lyrics | Over 100 Classic Beatles Song Arrangements | Music Book for Beginners, Teachers, and Fans

The Beatles Sheet Music Collection | Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook with Chords and Lyrics | Over 100 Classic Beatles Song Arrangements | Music Book for Beginners, Teachers, and Fans

The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword

The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Prizzi's Honor

Prizzi's Honor

How to Win in Small Claims Court in Texas: With Forms (Legal Survival Guides)

How to Win in Small Claims Court in Texas: With Forms (Legal Survival Guides)

The Wheel of Time Box Set 2: Books 4-6 (The Shadow Rising, Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos) (Wheel of Time Box Sets)

The Wheel of Time Box Set 2: Books 4-6 (The Shadow Rising, Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos) (Wheel of Time Box Sets)

The Wrong Side of Sundown (Sunset Station)

The Wrong Side of Sundown (Sunset Station)