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Traffic
‘You shall have thousands of gold pieces;—thousands of thousands—millions—mountains of gold: where will you keep them?’
Two of Ruskin’s most powerful essays: Traffic and The Roots of Honour. The radical Victorian art critic’s excoriating defence of dignity and creativity in a world obsessed by money.
[ John Ruskin (1819–1900) ]
Little Black Classics celebrates Penguin’s 80th birthday, introducing 80 works from the classics.
Two of Ruskin’s most powerful essays: Traffic and The Roots of Honour. The radical Victorian art critic’s excoriating defence of dignity and creativity in a world obsessed by money.
[ John Ruskin (1819–1900) ]
Little Black Classics celebrates Penguin’s 80th birthday, introducing 80 works from the classics.
59 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 26, 2015
42 people are currently reading
1220 people want to read
About the author
John Ruskin
3,738 books484 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
March 5, 2017
I am at an impasse with this collection. This is the seventieth edition I’ve read and reviewed so far. This means I have only ten left, only ten until I complete the challenge I set out for myself almost two years ago now. Instead of reading them in numbered order, I cherry picked the ones I liked the sound of; thus, the ones that are left are almost certainly going to be ones I dislike. I might get a few surprises, but so far it is not looking promising. I keep putting off reading them. I think I need to just dedicate a day to where I just push through them all and then bombard goodreads with my reviews for a few days.
In reality though, I will probably continue to review one a month. The last few have been quite painful to read, and this was no exception. For what it’s worth, I did agree with a few of Ruskin’s points in here but as a piece of writing it is lifeless. Where is the wit? Where is the genius of Oscar Wilde? This was meant to be a lecture; it was meant to be spoken aloud and not simply read off of the page, so some of the power behind the rhetoric is lost. Though, that being said, I don’t think I could sit through this speech. I’d leave the room or fall asleep across the desk.
I did try looking for an audio version but I didn’t have any luck. I wasn’t overly disappointed in my failure to locate one. It probably saved me an hour or two of my life. Here’s to hoping the remaining ten are better than this piece of boring prose!
Penguin Little Black Classic- 06
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
In reality though, I will probably continue to review one a month. The last few have been quite painful to read, and this was no exception. For what it’s worth, I did agree with a few of Ruskin’s points in here but as a piece of writing it is lifeless. Where is the wit? Where is the genius of Oscar Wilde? This was meant to be a lecture; it was meant to be spoken aloud and not simply read off of the page, so some of the power behind the rhetoric is lost. Though, that being said, I don’t think I could sit through this speech. I’d leave the room or fall asleep across the desk.
I did try looking for an audio version but I didn’t have any luck. I wasn’t overly disappointed in my failure to locate one. It probably saved me an hour or two of my life. Here’s to hoping the remaining ten are better than this piece of boring prose!
Penguin Little Black Classic- 06
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
June 16, 2019
John Ruskin was a famous art critic during the Victorian era. It looks as though, since then, he has become an obscure English celebrity. Be it as it may, this small volume gives us a chance to rediscover this prolific author, who wrote about the arts, and just as well about all sorts of other topics. “Traffic” is the script of a lecture given by Ruskin in 1864 near Manchester. The whole thing is a sort of grouchy ecclesiastical rambling on the harmful effects of capitalism and the industrial revolution on the English mind. However, there are some fascinating sections on architecture and religion throughout History, that almost reminded me of Hegel’s Aesthetics (which he possibly read?).
The following text included here is an article titled “The Roots of Honour”. It is in the same vein and contains one of the best pleas in favour of social equality and some interesting thoughts on business management. Most of it is still valid in our early 21st century.
The following text included here is an article titled “The Roots of Honour”. It is in the same vein and contains one of the best pleas in favour of social equality and some interesting thoughts on business management. Most of it is still valid in our early 21st century.
February 20, 2018
"I am trying to prove to you the honour of your houses and hills; not that the Church is not sacred -- but that the whole Earth is."
- John Ruskin, "Traffic"
"For no human actions ever were intended by the Maker of men to be guided by balances of expediency, but by balances of justice."
- John Ruskin, "The Roots of Honour"
Vol 6 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. Essay one, "Traffic" (1864) is actually two essays: "Traffic" and "The Roots of Honor". "Traffic" was the second of the three lectures that form The Crown of Wild Olive, was delivered by Ruskin in the Town Hall, Bradford, a town of the industrial north near Manchester. In both of essays, which remind me of later long-form journalism pieces by Orwell and Sullivan, Ruskin appears as a Victorian Sage. In "Traffic" Ruskin is preaching about the need for the modern age to develop an architecture of the market. The West has had 3 previous religious ages: (1) the Age of the Greeks: and the worship of the God of Power and Wisdom; (2) the Mediaeval: and the worship of the God of Judgement and Consolation; (3) the Renaissance: worship of the God of Pride and Beauty. But now we live in the era of the Merchant and worship the Goddess of 'Getting-on'.
Essay two, titled "the Roots of Honour" (1862) critiques political economy (read economics) and pushes the merchant class to act as other intellectual professions in the West (Soldier, Pastor, Physician, and Lawyer) and develop a philosophy of honour. An ability to use paternal authority with one's workers, and figure out a way to be both wise, prudent, and practical. He develops a rule for owners of production, always act as if one's son were employed among his workers; similar to how a captain would act if his son were a sailor aboard his ship.
Again, I think of other great writer/thinkers when reading Ruskin. I think of Orwell's socialism and Andrew Sullivan's activism, and am sure both writers were influence by Ruskin's style and approach. He was a contemporary of Thomas Carlyle and influenced people as diverse as Tolstoy and Ghandi. He is amazing. I'm agag that I had only heard him, but never actually READ him.
- John Ruskin, "Traffic"
"For no human actions ever were intended by the Maker of men to be guided by balances of expediency, but by balances of justice."
- John Ruskin, "The Roots of Honour"
Vol 6 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. Essay one, "Traffic" (1864) is actually two essays: "Traffic" and "The Roots of Honor". "Traffic" was the second of the three lectures that form The Crown of Wild Olive, was delivered by Ruskin in the Town Hall, Bradford, a town of the industrial north near Manchester. In both of essays, which remind me of later long-form journalism pieces by Orwell and Sullivan, Ruskin appears as a Victorian Sage. In "Traffic" Ruskin is preaching about the need for the modern age to develop an architecture of the market. The West has had 3 previous religious ages: (1) the Age of the Greeks: and the worship of the God of Power and Wisdom; (2) the Mediaeval: and the worship of the God of Judgement and Consolation; (3) the Renaissance: worship of the God of Pride and Beauty. But now we live in the era of the Merchant and worship the Goddess of 'Getting-on'.
Essay two, titled "the Roots of Honour" (1862) critiques political economy (read economics) and pushes the merchant class to act as other intellectual professions in the West (Soldier, Pastor, Physician, and Lawyer) and develop a philosophy of honour. An ability to use paternal authority with one's workers, and figure out a way to be both wise, prudent, and practical. He develops a rule for owners of production, always act as if one's son were employed among his workers; similar to how a captain would act if his son were a sailor aboard his ship.
Again, I think of other great writer/thinkers when reading Ruskin. I think of Orwell's socialism and Andrew Sullivan's activism, and am sure both writers were influence by Ruskin's style and approach. He was a contemporary of Thomas Carlyle and influenced people as diverse as Tolstoy and Ghandi. He is amazing. I'm agag that I had only heard him, but never actually READ him.
February 19, 2022
[re-read] i rated this a one star the first time i read it and said "reading the back of a shampoo bottle is more interesting than this" well yeah i'm doing a 180 and changing my rating to a 3 star... somehow it got way more interesting on my 2nd read of it.
love the message. Every person who works is important. every job is important. the world wouldnt run without the jobs that people look down on.
the jobs that people look down on are the most important tbh.
overall message: treat people with kindness -Harry styles John Raskin
love the message. Every person who works is important. every job is important. the world wouldnt run without the jobs that people look down on.
the jobs that people look down on are the most important tbh.
overall message: treat people with kindness -
November 15, 2016
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
2.5 Stars
Traffic consists of two different pieces. The first is a speech where John Rushkin is asked to talk about an Exchange but he just tells them he couldn't care less and talks about other things instead. This part was mildly interesting, but in fact very forgettable.
The second half was worse, and I had a little struggle to finish it. Not one of the best Little Black Classics that I've read so far.
Little Black Classic #6
2.5 Stars
Traffic consists of two different pieces. The first is a speech where John Rushkin is asked to talk about an Exchange but he just tells them he couldn't care less and talks about other things instead. This part was mildly interesting, but in fact very forgettable.
The second half was worse, and I had a little struggle to finish it. Not one of the best Little Black Classics that I've read so far.
Little Black Classic #6
September 24, 2015
The title piece Traffic is an interesting lecture on architecture and politics. not to go to deeply this, proved to be an invigorating read while walking down a country lane.
The second piece, The Roots of Honour was found wanting. A rambling affair of little depth or interest, to be truthful, exceedingly dull.
Definately not to everyones taste, but a writer that might deserve a fair reading and not the scraps offered up here.
The second piece, The Roots of Honour was found wanting. A rambling affair of little depth or interest, to be truthful, exceedingly dull.
Definately not to everyones taste, but a writer that might deserve a fair reading and not the scraps offered up here.
January 10, 2016
This was....not fun. I had to force myself to read the last few pages. I don't know why I forced myself to do so, honestly. But I guess I felt the need to finish it though if you were to ask me what I read I'd stare at you befuddled.
July 6, 2017
If you want to read something that makes you want to shoot yourself in the foot to get some excitement, this is the book for you. The author is dry and pretentious. He may be a scholar of art, but his writing is anything but.
February 1, 2017
Penguin if you offer me such dry and boring Little Black Classics, you could at least offer me some sentences about why I should care about these two ramping essays? I forced myself through this because I'm reading the whole box and I kept thinking "the whole thing is so short, surely I can finish it?!?". I can and I did but I'm no better for it.
At least this made me read the wikipedia page about Ruskin which was a lot more entertaining than this book... which was about... what exactly? Architecture? Art? Jobs? He kept making these grand announcements and I thought "Oh, so this essay is about how capitalistic architecture is? No? No. Mhm" etc.
At least this made me read the wikipedia page about Ruskin which was a lot more entertaining than this book... which was about... what exactly? Architecture? Art? Jobs? He kept making these grand announcements and I thought "Oh, so this essay is about how capitalistic architecture is? No? No. Mhm" etc.
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February 4, 2017
John Ruskin was a Victorian art critic, as well as a philanthropist, speech-giver and painter. This book contains two of his works, a speech called Traffic, given in Bradford to some men who wanted his thoughts on their new Exchange building and an essay calledThe Roots of Honour, which concerns economy and politics.
Traffic is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read. Ruskin has been invited, as an art critic, to direct the people of Bradford in which direction of architecture style they should build their new Exchange building in, but Ruskin opens whole-heartedly with the sentiment that he does "not care about this Exchange of [theirs]." Delivered in the Town Hall of Bradford in 1864, Ruskin speaks about the aesthetics of beauty and the relation between taste and morality.
The second essay is longer and not so beautifully put together, but still captivating enough to spark enough intelligence in any person. The Roots of Honour, whilst still an exemplary example of Ruskin's writing, concerns the political economics of Britain and Ruskin tries to simplify it whilst at the same time applying his art critique upon it.
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Traffic is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read. Ruskin has been invited, as an art critic, to direct the people of Bradford in which direction of architecture style they should build their new Exchange building in, but Ruskin opens whole-heartedly with the sentiment that he does "not care about this Exchange of [theirs]." Delivered in the Town Hall of Bradford in 1864, Ruskin speaks about the aesthetics of beauty and the relation between taste and morality.
The second essay is longer and not so beautifully put together, but still captivating enough to spark enough intelligence in any person. The Roots of Honour, whilst still an exemplary example of Ruskin's writing, concerns the political economics of Britain and Ruskin tries to simplify it whilst at the same time applying his art critique upon it.
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November 7, 2024
1 for this
5 for the thing I'm listening to in the car
I've had this lying around for years and wanted something nice and quick to read last night. This had nothing about it which I could recommend to anyone and Ruskin's words are flat as a pancake and dull as.
Instead I would recommend that you listen to the highly amusing podcast or whatever it is I was listening to in the car yesterday between Grant Morrison and Frankie Boyle - now that at least has some spark and fun about it. Anyway I digress...I'm away to get my tea before it gets cold...
5 for the thing I'm listening to in the car
I've had this lying around for years and wanted something nice and quick to read last night. This had nothing about it which I could recommend to anyone and Ruskin's words are flat as a pancake and dull as.
Instead I would recommend that you listen to the highly amusing podcast or whatever it is I was listening to in the car yesterday between Grant Morrison and Frankie Boyle - now that at least has some spark and fun about it. Anyway I digress...I'm away to get my tea before it gets cold...
Read
January 14, 2024ruskin is sooooooo funny for rolling up to a room full of finance bros and basically going “idgaf about you and your moneygrubbing schemes, go touch grass and look at some cool buildings, find god, and also L + ratio you dork ass losers.” and then in his second essay he proceeds to slam economics as a fake science and explain why bosses are assholes. absolutely hysterical read if you don’t sink too much into the victorian-ness of it all
April 18, 2018
John RuskinThe book has two powerful essays of John Ruskin – Traffic and Roots of Honor.
3 stars for the writing (none for the philosophy)
Both the essays are critical incessantly about the capitalist mindset, modern economics. At some places, his writing and reasoning sound passionate, however, I’d beg to differ in several instances. We do not live in the 18th century and so this may not clearly relate. Having said that, this is a well-written essay and a good read, definitely dry and philosophical. So if that is your thing and you wish to get a glimpse of the essays dive right into my detailed review of each below. 💁🏻♀️
Traffic – A lecture given to the students for an Exchange program. He speaks about good taste, then about churches and the difference in the architecture of churches and our houses. He emphasizes about good architecture being the work of good and believing men. He goes on to speak about Gothic architecture and its origin. Then he comes to the three great religions of Europe – Greek (worshiping the god of wisdom & power), Medieval (worshiping the god of judgment and consolation) and renaissance (worshiping the god of pride and beauty).
The failure of each of these religions has been explained in the lecture, Greek religion of wisdom perished in false philosophy, the medieval religion of consolation perished in false comfort; in remission of sins given lyingly. The last one – renaissance perished on account of pleasure and luxury resulting in death in the end. Finally, he concludes by getting the context of his lecture ‘the exchange program’ (although the connection was rather vague/forced – or so I felt), he strongly suggests that we as on date worship a different Goddess. We worship the Goddess of Getting on. Getting on – but where to? Gathering together – but how much? Do you mean to gather always – never to spend? The point he wants to make is the fact that art can only emerge from ‘goodness’ and that morality and goodness have been lost with each passing generation. He urges his audience to realize and not believe in this false deity/goddess, to determine the honest and simple order of existence and live in harmony.
The conclusion of the essay:
“You will then know how to build, well enough; you will build with stone well, but with flesh better; temples not made with hands, but riveted of hearts; and that kind of marble, crimson-veined, is indeed eternal.”
Roots of Honor is the opening essay in “Unto this last” which is a book on economy written by John Ruskin. The book “Unto this last” was highly appreciated by the nonviolent activist Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi, who was extremely influenced by the philosophy and ideals of this book, translated it in Gujarati, entitling it as Sarvodaya (Well being of all).
The essay is a critical view of the capitalist economists of the 18th & 19th century and strongly suggests that men can be happy only if they respect morals.
Ruskin opines that men should be just! The interests of master and laborer cannot be alike, or that they are opposed – is circumstantial. The wages paid to a laborer for the work cannot be so less that the laborer cannot sustain on it, neither can it be so high that the master is deprived of enough profits to expand his business (thereby creating employment) or conduct it in a safe way. One can never know what the ultimate result is of any action, however, being just will definitely result in the best possible outcome.
The concept of justice is explained by Ruskin to be directly related to ‘affection’. Ruskin believes that we humans can bond through affection which will result in better treatment rather than an emotionless bond where man is treated as a profit-making machine. Machines have no soul or feelings, hence, emotionless treatment to it; to get the best outcome will not have any resistance from the machine. However, with humans, there are feelings involved and thereby the results may differ from person to person. All it takes is some fuel for a machine to be motivated, with human beings this fuel is affection.
“Treat the servant kindly, with the idea of turning his gratitude to account, and you will get, as you deserve, no gratitude, nor any value for your kindness; but treat him kindly without any economical purpose, and all economical purposes will be answered; in this, as in all other matters, whosoever will save his life shall lose it, whoso loses it shall find it”
Just behavior is achieved through affection he says; maybe to an extent, Although I do feel the generation now is much more complex than that!!
The above concepts have been explained by Ruskin in the essay with different examples of master and operative – master of a household & his/her servant, commander of a regiment & his men, manufacturer & his workmen. The circumstances/situations are different in each of the above cases which is explained in the essay. Like in the case of workmen, the wages are decided based on the demand and skill. Ruskin opines that wages should be regulated whether skilled/unskilled – this philosophy I’m not so sure about, too extreme and unjust to the good workmen!!
“What!’ the reader perhaps answers amazedly: ‘to pay good and bad workman alike?’
Certainly.
You pay with equal fee, contentedly, the good and bad preachers (workmen upon your soul) and the good and bad physicians (workmen upon your body); much more may you pay, contentedly, with equal fees, the good and bad workmen upon your house.
‘Nay, but I choose my physician, thus indicating my sense of the quality of their work.’ By all means choose your bricklayer; that is the proper reward of the good workman, to be ‘chosen’.
(This is absurd, I mean let the bad workman rise up and perform better - sigh!!)
November 24, 2025
'You shall have thousands of gold pieces; — thousands of thousands - millions - mountains, of gold: where will you keep them?'
Watching paint dry would be more interesting... I was hoping to get put out of my misery the entire time I was reading this. Quite possibly the worst thing I've ever read. When he used the word gothic I snapped up like a dog, but he immediately started talking about other architecture... Just capitalism and Man... I can't do this...
Watching paint dry would be more interesting... I was hoping to get put out of my misery the entire time I was reading this. Quite possibly the worst thing I've ever read. When he used the word gothic I snapped up like a dog, but he immediately started talking about other architecture... Just capitalism and Man... I can't do this...
January 6, 2025
this first essay was fantastic, the second was a little bit worse but otherwise very accessible and defended
I should be an architect!
I should be an architect!
June 24, 2016
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era. This Little Black Classic consists of two pieces of writing: the first, titled Traffic, is the speech he held in Bradford in 1864, where he was invited to give advise on which architectural direction the new Exchange should be built in. The second piece of writing, The Roots of Honour, deals with politics and economy.
The first speech in particular was a beautiful ramble with inspiring thoughts behind them. He starts his talk saying how he simply does not care about the Exchange and instead touches upon topics such as morality and the worth of money.
"Getting on - but where to? Gathering together - but how much? Do you mean to gather always - never to spend?"
I struggled much more with the second part of this book, as it is nothing I would have read if it wasn't included here. I consider John Ruskin a remarkably intelligent and impressive guy, yet overall and despite its cleverness, I just didn't have much fun reading this, which is reason enough for me to give this a two-star-rating. Apologies to Ruskin.
Roughly a year ago Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
The first speech in particular was a beautiful ramble with inspiring thoughts behind them. He starts his talk saying how he simply does not care about the Exchange and instead touches upon topics such as morality and the worth of money.
"Getting on - but where to? Gathering together - but how much? Do you mean to gather always - never to spend?"
I struggled much more with the second part of this book, as it is nothing I would have read if it wasn't included here. I consider John Ruskin a remarkably intelligent and impressive guy, yet overall and despite its cleverness, I just didn't have much fun reading this, which is reason enough for me to give this a two-star-rating. Apologies to Ruskin.
Roughly a year ago Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
December 17, 2021
2.5 stars
Uggggh Ruskin. It took about two pages of this for me to remember several of the reasons he makes my skin crawl. And yet also as someone who usually reads in as author-friendly a way as I can, it does me good to occasionally deliberately read something I know will irritate me profoundly. (To date this only works with nonfiction.) It makes the things I grudgingly agree with more interesting to mull over and it encourages me to think maximally critically about everything including rhetorical manipulations.
Still. Uggggh. Ruskin.
CN: random explicit antisemitic comment near the first essay's beginning; paternalism, so much paternalism
Uggggh Ruskin. It took about two pages of this for me to remember several of the reasons he makes my skin crawl. And yet also as someone who usually reads in as author-friendly a way as I can, it does me good to occasionally deliberately read something I know will irritate me profoundly. (To date this only works with nonfiction.) It makes the things I grudgingly agree with more interesting to mull over and it encourages me to think maximally critically about everything including rhetorical manipulations.
Still. Uggggh. Ruskin.
CN: random explicit antisemitic comment near the first essay's beginning; paternalism, so much paternalism
March 4, 2019
Wow... This was not fun at all. I'm sorry but this book bore me. I had to force myself to finish it.
October 19, 2023
I really had to force myself to finish this
May 2, 2023
My god this book felt like crawiling through mud for 42 km
February 19, 2025
I wanted to fall asleep so many times while reading this one and sometimes had to reread some sections. Lol. I read the book because the back made it sound more or less critical on moneyband arts, and while the first essay rambles on about the high importance monetary values had in British society, it was not what I expected exactly. Whatever, it was an interesting essay because I love to read preaching on the arts.
The second one I did not quite like; it is more a dissertation on how a master should work with it's servants, and I had so many questions about the validity of his arguments. Like, maybe he had a point back then, but how is this applied to a team? However, it was good to know his opinions specifically on how a merchant should be, as it made me reflect on my job, but still, some really interesting things. Good sup bc it made me think.
The second one I did not quite like; it is more a dissertation on how a master should work with it's servants, and I had so many questions about the validity of his arguments. Like, maybe he had a point back then, but how is this applied to a team? However, it was good to know his opinions specifically on how a merchant should be, as it made me reflect on my job, but still, some really interesting things. Good sup bc it made me think.
February 3, 2017
This book contains two essays. The first essay was well written and thoughtful. The second essay was written and somewhat thoughtful. He makes a number of interesting points and analogies with regards to morality and society as a whole.
"Taste is not only a part and an index of morality; - it is the ONLY morality. The first, the last, and the closest trial question to any living creature is, 'What do you like?' Tell me what you like, and I'll tell you what you are."
When discussing religions: "Next followed in Europe the great Christian faith, which was essentially the religion of Comfort." "[T]oo often, in certain phases of Christianity, that sin and sickness themselves are partly glorified, as if, the more you had to be healed of, the more divine was the healing."
"And all our hearts have been betrayed by the plausible impiety of the modern economist, telling us that, 'To do the best for ourselves, is finally to do the best for others.' Friends, our great Master said not so; and most absolutely we shall find this world is not made so. Indeed, to do the best for others, is finally to do the best for ourselves."
And so on. I enjoyed reading this!
"Taste is not only a part and an index of morality; - it is the ONLY morality. The first, the last, and the closest trial question to any living creature is, 'What do you like?' Tell me what you like, and I'll tell you what you are."
When discussing religions: "Next followed in Europe the great Christian faith, which was essentially the religion of Comfort." "[T]oo often, in certain phases of Christianity, that sin and sickness themselves are partly glorified, as if, the more you had to be healed of, the more divine was the healing."
"And all our hearts have been betrayed by the plausible impiety of the modern economist, telling us that, 'To do the best for ourselves, is finally to do the best for others.' Friends, our great Master said not so; and most absolutely we shall find this world is not made so. Indeed, to do the best for others, is finally to do the best for ourselves."
And so on. I enjoyed reading this!
Read
September 5, 20253.75
January 14, 2018
So a bunch of merchants in Bradford invited John Ruskin, renowned art critic, to tell them about how they should build their Exchange building, He went there and decided to completely go off on a tangent railing against mercantilism and going on about Greek values. I am sure those merchants were all disappointed. Ruskin comes off as a pedant, but a pedant with balls. This little book contains that speech and another one from 1862, about economics. They are interesting stuff but again Ruskin always seems to come off as holier-than-thou. Still an interesting little book
March 22, 2025
Currently with some lack of motivation to keep with this collection. Nothing against more abstract or little essays whatsoever, but when you give it to the reader without any context it’s REALLY hard to get any appreciation from it. Couldn’t have liked it less.
July 1, 2019
A moralizing lecture and essay by a well-known writer from whose work the publishers could surely have found something more interesting to offer as a sampling.
February 20, 2025
Oh my god this was the most boring thing I’ve ever read, why do we let men write
December 20, 2025
“Change must come; but it is ours to determine whether change of growth, or change of death.”
“I am trying to prove to you the honour of your houses and your hills; not that the Church is not sacred - but that the whole Earth is.”
While I don’t agree with all the point she rambled about, I feel like he in his lectures had some great points on the way of life that could be beneficial to everyone.
The chaos of unregulated architecture and lack of goal or honor in new buildings representing the nonexistence of attention or care from workers as well as that everyone only thinks about “getting-on”, whether it’s at the cost of others or not, I feel, just shows how we as a society have fallen far from the ancient Greeks and their essence of values in art, especially nowadays with brutalism and minimalism becoming so popular.
“while to one family this deity is indeed the Goddess of Getting-on, to a thousand families she is the Goddess of not Getting-on.”
“All good architecture is the expression of national life and character; and it is produced by a prevalent and eager national taste, or desire for beauty.”
Another good point made was about the science of political economy, that to increase productivity there needs to be a mutual respect between employee and employer, even if the fastest way to incentivize it is by force and pay (lack or uncertainty of it especially). As well as the deciphering of the role of a merchant in society.
While commonly accepted theories, it’s unfortunate that even if over a 100 years have passed, these issues still persists.
“Five great intellectual professions, relating to daily necessities of life, have hitherto existed - three exist neces-sarily, in every civilized nation:
The Soldier's profession is to defend it.
The Pastor's to teach it.
The Physician's to keep it in health.
The Lawyer's to enforce justice in it.
The Merchant's to provide for it.
And the duty of all these men is, on due occasion, to die for it. 'On due occasion,' namely: -
The Soldier, rather than leave his post in battle.
The Physician, rather than leave his post in plague.
The Pastor, rather than teach Falsehood.
The Lawyer, rather than countenance Injustice.
The Merchant - what is his 'due occasion' of death?
It is the main question for the merchant, as for all of us. For, truly, the man who does not know when to die, does not know how to live.”
“I am trying to prove to you the honour of your houses and your hills; not that the Church is not sacred - but that the whole Earth is.”
While I don’t agree with all the point she rambled about, I feel like he in his lectures had some great points on the way of life that could be beneficial to everyone.
The chaos of unregulated architecture and lack of goal or honor in new buildings representing the nonexistence of attention or care from workers as well as that everyone only thinks about “getting-on”, whether it’s at the cost of others or not, I feel, just shows how we as a society have fallen far from the ancient Greeks and their essence of values in art, especially nowadays with brutalism and minimalism becoming so popular.
“while to one family this deity is indeed the Goddess of Getting-on, to a thousand families she is the Goddess of not Getting-on.”
“All good architecture is the expression of national life and character; and it is produced by a prevalent and eager national taste, or desire for beauty.”
Another good point made was about the science of political economy, that to increase productivity there needs to be a mutual respect between employee and employer, even if the fastest way to incentivize it is by force and pay (lack or uncertainty of it especially). As well as the deciphering of the role of a merchant in society.
While commonly accepted theories, it’s unfortunate that even if over a 100 years have passed, these issues still persists.
“Five great intellectual professions, relating to daily necessities of life, have hitherto existed - three exist neces-sarily, in every civilized nation:
The Soldier's profession is to defend it.
The Pastor's to teach it.
The Physician's to keep it in health.
The Lawyer's to enforce justice in it.
The Merchant's to provide for it.
And the duty of all these men is, on due occasion, to die for it. 'On due occasion,' namely: -
The Soldier, rather than leave his post in battle.
The Physician, rather than leave his post in plague.
The Pastor, rather than teach Falsehood.
The Lawyer, rather than countenance Injustice.
The Merchant - what is his 'due occasion' of death?
It is the main question for the merchant, as for all of us. For, truly, the man who does not know when to die, does not know how to live.”
March 5, 2021
John Ruskin was the leading art critic of Victorian Britain, and wrote on a variety of other topics, including mythology, education and political economy. The Little Black Classic selection presents two of his essays. Traffic is actually a speech of his delivered in Bradford in 1864, andmostly touches upon the subject of architecture. The second essay, The Roots of Honour, is mostly about political economy, and looks into the sociological implications of the post-Industrial Revolution system.
Apart from ocassional snippets of wisdom, I didn't find much of interest in Traffic, and the situation was even more dire for the second essay. It's not that I don't respect Ruskin's intelligence or way with words, but his thoughts seem very poorly structured. For the first piece I can understand - it's a transcribed speech, so it loses part of its oratory power - but the second one was extremely hard to follow. I love fluid boundaries within ideas and trains of thought, but this is way too much even for me - and combined with the lengthy style of Victorian prose, it quickly turns into my worst nightmare.
Maybe I'm just too used to seeing a clear structure in argumentations that I read, caused by the non-negligible amount of empirical studies I've read over the years. Maybe the selection from Ruskin's works was poorly made. But, I really didn't enjoy this. I'm giving it two stars just out of respect for John Ruskin.
Apart from ocassional snippets of wisdom, I didn't find much of interest in Traffic, and the situation was even more dire for the second essay. It's not that I don't respect Ruskin's intelligence or way with words, but his thoughts seem very poorly structured. For the first piece I can understand - it's a transcribed speech, so it loses part of its oratory power - but the second one was extremely hard to follow. I love fluid boundaries within ideas and trains of thought, but this is way too much even for me - and combined with the lengthy style of Victorian prose, it quickly turns into my worst nightmare.
Maybe I'm just too used to seeing a clear structure in argumentations that I read, caused by the non-negligible amount of empirical studies I've read over the years. Maybe the selection from Ruskin's works was poorly made. But, I really didn't enjoy this. I'm giving it two stars just out of respect for John Ruskin.
July 29, 2020
I didn't know who John Ruskin was, but I really enjoyed his writing! This is a must-read for anyone interested in political philosophy, ethics and equality rights regarding basic income. In the two essays Ruskin points at a couple of strange habits that we have where we seem to ask money for things that are not important, while asking money for things that are. It leaves you thinking about the strange power relations in different domains even when it has been written more than a decade ago.
Disclaimer: Even though I really enjoy reading the thoughts of people that seem to think that they have grasped the real way the world works, I never agree that this is the full picture and that one can even succeed in grasping it. Even so, such big claims can still help you see the world around you in a different way ... until you read the next big claim.
Disclaimer: Even though I really enjoy reading the thoughts of people that seem to think that they have grasped the real way the world works, I never agree that this is the full picture and that one can even succeed in grasping it. Even so, such big claims can still help you see the world around you in a different way ... until you read the next big claim.
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