{"product_id":"2940013755130","title":"Essays","description":"There is a sentence in Dr. Johnson's Gray which might well be written up\u003cbr\u003ein all those rooms, too humble to be called libraries, yet full of books,\u003cbr\u003ewhere the pursuit of reading is carried on by private people. \" . . . I\u003cbr\u003erejoice to concur with the common reader; for by the common sense of\u003cbr\u003ereaders, uncorrupted by literary prejudices, after all the refinements of\u003cbr\u003esubtilty and the dogmatism of learning, must be finally decided all claim\u003cbr\u003eto poetical honours.\" It defines their qualities; it dignifies their\u003cbr\u003eaims; it bestows upon a pursuit which devours a great deal of time, and\u003cbr\u003eis yet apt to leave behind it nothing very substantial, the sanction of\u003cbr\u003ethe great man's approval.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe common reader, as Dr. Johnson implies, differs from the critic and\u003cbr\u003ethe scholar. He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so\u003cbr\u003egenerously. He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge\u003cbr\u003eor correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct\u003cbr\u003eto create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some\u003cbr\u003ekind of whole--a portrait of a man, a sketch of an age, a theory of the\u003cbr\u003eart of writing. He never ceases, as he reads, to run up some rickety and\u003cbr\u003eramshackle fabric which shall give him the temporary satisfaction of\u003cbr\u003elooking sufficiently like the real object to allow of affection,\u003cbr\u003elaughter, and argument. Hasty, inaccurate, and superficial, snatching now\u003cbr\u003ethis poem, now that scrap of old furniture, without caring where he finds\u003cbr\u003eit or of what nature it may be so long as it serves his purpose and\u003cbr\u003erounds his structure, his deficiencies as a critic are too obvious to be\u003cbr\u003epointed out; but if he has, as Dr. Johnson maintained, some say in the\u003cbr\u003efinal distribution of poetical honours, then, perhaps, it may be worth\u003cbr\u003ewhile to write down a few of the ideas and opinions which, insignificant\u003cbr\u003ein themselves, yet contribute to so mighty a result.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079661338864,"sku":"2940013755130","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013755130_p0.jpg?v=1763589830","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013755130","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}