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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Late Nineteenth Century Essays - Surprisingly Varied Topics,
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This review is from: The Lantern-Bearers and Other Essays (Paperback)
Following the success of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, magazines competed for essays by Robert Louis Stevenson. In his time Stevenson was widely admired for his fresh observations, clever insights, and friendly humor. Although his novels and short stories remain popular, Stevenson's essays are seldom encountered today.Jeremy Treglown, editor of the London Times Literary Supplement, selected the thirty-three essays included in The Lantern-Bearers and Other Essays and wrote the scholarly introduction. Stevenson's essays are surprisingly varied, both in topic and style. I found some to be less interesting, some to have buried gems, and others to be fascinating throughout. This collection requires a patient reader, one that is willing to let Stevenson occasionally ramble a bit. I would sometimes only appreciate an essay after a second reading. His essays often offer a humorous and sympathetic look at his fellow man. In those about his personal experiences as a child or as an intense young man, he directs his gentle humor at himself. He modestly describes the writing of Treasure Island (as well as his earlier efforts, some twelve attempted novels that Stevenson eventually burned in his fireplace). I enjoyed his account of his diving experience (suited up with an oxygen line) at an engineering site in a desolate bay near the sub-arctic town of Wick. Elsewhere he describes his visit to the small town of Monterey, California in 1880. I especially liked An Apology for Idlers, On Falling in Love, and Letter to a Young Gentleman who Proposes to Embrace the Career of Art, and Crabbed Age and Youth. Stevenson's essay topics were unpredictable. A Studio of Ladies describes a group of young women, art students, painting a man posing as the Dying Gladiator. His insights on Walking Tours, the city of Edinburgh, and the creative mind of Walt Whitman were all quite good. In Thomas Stevenson, Civil Engineer, he paints an absorbing and touching portrait of his father. The essays of Robert Louis Stevenson make interesting reading. |
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The Lantern-Bearers and Other Essays by Robert Louis Stevenson (Paperback - August 17, 1999)
$16.95
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