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The Wound and the Bow: Seven Studies in Literature
The Wound and the Bow collects seven wonderful essays on the delicate theme of the relation between art and suffering by the legendary literary and social critic, Edmund Wilson (1885–1972). This welcome re-issue—one of several for this title—testifies to the value publishers put on it and to a reluctance among them ever to let it stay out of print for very long.
The subjects Wilson treats—Dickens and Kipling, Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway, Joyce and Sophocles, and perhaps most surprising, Jacques Casanova—reveal the range and dexterity of his interests, his historical grasp, his learning, and his intellectual curiosity.
Wilson’s essays did not give rise to a new body of literary theory nor to a new school of literary criticism. Rather, he animated or reanimated the reputations of the artists he treated and furthered the quest for the sources of their literary artistry and craftsmanship.
F. Scott Fitzgerald called Wilson “the literary conscience of my generation.” Today’s readers of The Wound and the Bow may want to make the claim for their generation as well.
The subjects Wilson treats—Dickens and Kipling, Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway, Joyce and Sophocles, and perhaps most surprising, Jacques Casanova—reveal the range and dexterity of his interests, his historical grasp, his learning, and his intellectual curiosity.
Wilson’s essays did not give rise to a new body of literary theory nor to a new school of literary criticism. Rather, he animated or reanimated the reputations of the artists he treated and furthered the quest for the sources of their literary artistry and craftsmanship.
F. Scott Fitzgerald called Wilson “the literary conscience of my generation.” Today’s readers of The Wound and the Bow may want to make the claim for their generation as well.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
15 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Edmund Wilson
293 books152 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. See also physicist Edmund Wilson.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 12, 2024
IL PENSATORE TRIPLICE
Edmund Wilson, compagno di università di Francis Scott Fitzgerald, fu una delle figure più importanti della cultura americana del secolo scorso, uno di quei critici e letterati che possono essere considerati la coscienza critica di quel grande paese.
Dei sette saggi qui contenuti, per me i più preziosi sono quello su Edith Wharton, credo scritto nel 1937, e quello dedicato a “Finnegans Wake” di Joyce.
Gli altri parlano di Dickens, Kipling, Casanova, Hemingway, Sofocle e Filottete (l’ultimo che intitola la raccolta).
Nel suo caso è proprio vero che la critica letteraria è un piacere, e un aiuto alla comprensione, ricca di scoperte e misteri rivelati.
Edmund Wilson, in un ritratto à la James.
La Wharton si fa interessante, per Wilson, nel periodo 1905-1917, un periodo in cui gli scrittori americani che valesse la pena di leggere erano ben pochi.
Dal che si arguisce, ma poi Wilson lo esplicita abbastanza, che Henry James non sia uno dei suoi autori preferiti: tra i suoi difetti, talvolta tenuità di analisi, troppo poco profeta sociale, concentrato soprattutto su interessi estetici.
Invece, la Wharton, quando si libera finalmente del modello James, quando va oltre la sua abilità nel descrivere tutti quegli arredamenti americani, e i concomitanti lavori di giardinaggio, quando la pianta di dedicarsi alla descrizione della decorazione d’interni e all’inventario delle dimore dei suoi personaggi, quando si accorge di poter essere ben di più che una poetessa dell’arredamento, diventa finalmente un esempio di scrittore che allevia una tensione emotiva denunciando la propria generazione, di quelli che val la pena leggere - una scrittrice più attenta e attratta dal conflitto tra l’individuo e un gruppo sociale.
Wilson si riferisce quindi alla produzione più celebre di Edith Wharton: “La casa della gioia”, “Ethan Frome” (il mio preferito), “L’età dell’innocenza”.
Edith Wharton
Oggi non so bene quanto sono ancora d’accordo con Wilson, quanto condivido la sua teoria per cui un critico, davanti a un’opera d’arte, deve avere ben presente il vissuto dell’artista, analizzare tutto ciò che riguarda chi crea l’opera, la sua vita i suoi traumi, le sue esperienze.
Ora, se è piuttosto vero che chi siamo genera cosa facciamo, è anche vero che non mi serve sapere cosa mangia, come fa l’amore, quante volte è stato sculacciato, e il numero di scarpe dello scrittore per apprezzare o meno il suo libro.
O anche, lasciando per un attimo da parte l’apprezzamento, per comprenderlo: è probabilmente vero che ciò che ha fatto l’artista si ritrova nell’opera, ma è anche vero che l’opera d’arte non è una seduta psicanalitica, un album di ricordi, un estratto biografico.
Credo che oggi, soprattutto oggi che le luci della ribalta possono essere fastidiosamente eccessive per un artista, al punto da accecare, fare male (vedi Ferrante, Banksy, Salinger, Pynchon, ma anche i Daft Punk, Luther Blisset), possiamo, e dovremmo, imparare ad avvicinarci a un testo senza sapere già tutto del contesto in cui è nato (incluso l’indirizzo e il codice fiscale dell’autore).
PS
“The Triple Thinkers” è un’altra opera di Edmund Wilson.
Ritratto di Joyce disegnato da Djuna Barnes nel 1922, anno in cui Joyce iniziò a lavorare al Finnegans Wake, che gli prese 17 anni.
Edmund Wilson, compagno di università di Francis Scott Fitzgerald, fu una delle figure più importanti della cultura americana del secolo scorso, uno di quei critici e letterati che possono essere considerati la coscienza critica di quel grande paese.
Dei sette saggi qui contenuti, per me i più preziosi sono quello su Edith Wharton, credo scritto nel 1937, e quello dedicato a “Finnegans Wake” di Joyce.
Gli altri parlano di Dickens, Kipling, Casanova, Hemingway, Sofocle e Filottete (l’ultimo che intitola la raccolta).
Nel suo caso è proprio vero che la critica letteraria è un piacere, e un aiuto alla comprensione, ricca di scoperte e misteri rivelati.
Edmund Wilson, in un ritratto à la James.
La Wharton si fa interessante, per Wilson, nel periodo 1905-1917, un periodo in cui gli scrittori americani che valesse la pena di leggere erano ben pochi.
Dal che si arguisce, ma poi Wilson lo esplicita abbastanza, che Henry James non sia uno dei suoi autori preferiti: tra i suoi difetti, talvolta tenuità di analisi, troppo poco profeta sociale, concentrato soprattutto su interessi estetici.
Invece, la Wharton, quando si libera finalmente del modello James, quando va oltre la sua abilità nel descrivere tutti quegli arredamenti americani, e i concomitanti lavori di giardinaggio, quando la pianta di dedicarsi alla descrizione della decorazione d’interni e all’inventario delle dimore dei suoi personaggi, quando si accorge di poter essere ben di più che una poetessa dell’arredamento, diventa finalmente un esempio di scrittore che allevia una tensione emotiva denunciando la propria generazione, di quelli che val la pena leggere - una scrittrice più attenta e attratta dal conflitto tra l’individuo e un gruppo sociale.
Wilson si riferisce quindi alla produzione più celebre di Edith Wharton: “La casa della gioia”, “Ethan Frome” (il mio preferito), “L’età dell’innocenza”.
Edith Wharton
Oggi non so bene quanto sono ancora d’accordo con Wilson, quanto condivido la sua teoria per cui un critico, davanti a un’opera d’arte, deve avere ben presente il vissuto dell’artista, analizzare tutto ciò che riguarda chi crea l’opera, la sua vita i suoi traumi, le sue esperienze.
Ora, se è piuttosto vero che chi siamo genera cosa facciamo, è anche vero che non mi serve sapere cosa mangia, come fa l’amore, quante volte è stato sculacciato, e il numero di scarpe dello scrittore per apprezzare o meno il suo libro.
O anche, lasciando per un attimo da parte l’apprezzamento, per comprenderlo: è probabilmente vero che ciò che ha fatto l’artista si ritrova nell’opera, ma è anche vero che l’opera d’arte non è una seduta psicanalitica, un album di ricordi, un estratto biografico.
Credo che oggi, soprattutto oggi che le luci della ribalta possono essere fastidiosamente eccessive per un artista, al punto da accecare, fare male (vedi Ferrante, Banksy, Salinger, Pynchon, ma anche i Daft Punk, Luther Blisset), possiamo, e dovremmo, imparare ad avvicinarci a un testo senza sapere già tutto del contesto in cui è nato (incluso l’indirizzo e il codice fiscale dell’autore).
PS
“The Triple Thinkers” è un’altra opera di Edmund Wilson.
Ritratto di Joyce disegnato da Djuna Barnes nel 1922, anno in cui Joyce iniziò a lavorare al Finnegans Wake, che gli prese 17 anni.
June 13, 2021
Un banquete de crítica literaria. Dice, se desdice, no le importa. Conecta ideas, disfruta detalles, rescata críticos, hace conjeturas para provocar su refutación. Wilson pelea con fiereza contra molinos de viento. Sus lecturas de Dickens invitan al entusiasmo por la superación voluntarista. A Kipling lo deja como un imbécil con talento. Su paseo por Casanova suena a frivolidad contagiada por algún esnobismo del momento. Su Wharton aburre un poco. Su Hemingway queda reducido a ruinas iluminadas por la fuerza bruta de don Ernesto en relámpagos de feroz narrativa. Su elogio de Joyce es un insulto a Joyce, del que se arrepiente sin ponerse colorado hacia el final del ensayo. El Filoctetes de Wilson es una pieza de cámara erudita, radiante, un paradigma de lectura extensible a cualquier lectura. Quizás haya demasiado entusiasmo por los vectores psicoanalíticos de la crítica, entonces Wilson se apaga. Pero se enciende cuando escribe con desparpajo, no cuando se frunce. Ese es el mejor Wilson, el descuidado, el erudito dionisíaco.
February 1, 2022
The trouble with seminal works is that once the ideas they put forward are generally accepted, they may seem superseded or rudimentary. Wilson's book shows its age; sometimes its joints creak and groan when it stands up. Still worth your time, though; and how many of you have the tale of Philoctetes at your fingertips?
October 23, 2011
"They miss him and hate him and long to have him back." - Plutarch, on Alcibiades
August 1, 2009
Edmund Wilson is a pleasure to read. This collection of essays ranges from Dickens to Joyce to Kiplng to Wharton. He blends history,biography, and psychological analysis. But most of all, he is a master of writing, thoughtful, analytical, and insightful. I read this as part of the Library of America, Edmund Wilson: Literary Essays and Reviews of the 30'sand 40's, which I heartily recommend as good bedside reading.
March 26, 2017
Dickens!
June 18, 2014
I've had this book on my To-be-read pile for some time, and am glad to have finally got to it. It's a superb piece of literary criticism, clear and concise, commenting on a number of writers: Dickens, Kipling, Hemingway, Wharton, Joyce, and even Casanova. Wilson's views show how thoroughly he has read the works of each writer, and studies various aspects of their work. Written about 85 years ago, it still seems fresh and insightful. A worthy read for a better understanding of literary lights.
June 20, 2020
Many reasons for reading this. First the Dickens essay was one of the first to recognise Dickens' greatness as a technical novelist. Second, Wilson is a delight to read . Third, there are some books that are better to read about (if written about well) than to read. Wilson covers a couple of these. Fourth, it is good to see where literary criticism was half a century ago and more.
June 7, 2008
I love this for nostalgic reasons. The first volumes of literary criticism I ever read were by Edmund Wilson.
August 16, 2017
Dated literary criticism: long essays on Dickens and Kipling, shorter on Wharton, Hemingway, Joyce, Casanova and Sophocles.
February 20, 2025
Edmund Wilson was a journalist, writer and literary critic. The Wound and the Bow, first published in 1941, is a delicious collection of seven essays on Dickens, Kipling, Edith Wharton, Jacques Casanova, Hemingway, James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake and Sophocles’ Philoctetes. What seems an eclectic mix to choose from unearths fascinating insights into writers and writing. For example, Wilson explores the trauma to Dickens when his middle class father falls into poverty and Dickens sees him in prison. Subsequent biographers have taken this literary insight and made it commonly known but at the time The Wound and the Bow was written, it was novel and enlightening.
Wilson’s book is an important stepping stone in literary criticism.
Highly recommended.
Wilson’s book is an important stepping stone in literary criticism.
Highly recommended.
July 3, 2021
Penetrating essays, as usual from Wilson. On seven other writers: Dickens, Kipling, Casanova, Wharton, Hemingway, Joyce and Sophocles.
Want to read
November 8, 2021From Hell’s Kitchen Free Store
October 31, 2022
A classic in literary criticism.
October 9, 2025
What a dull, uninteresting critic Wilson is. His plodding style reflects a plodding mind. Truly unilluminating.
December 6, 2020
This book is a collection of essays reviewing the work of seven authors ranging from Sophocles to Hemingway. Also included are Edith Wharton, Casanova, and James Joyce's Ulysses. The extended essays on Dickens and Kipling take up over half the book. These erudite essays date as far back as 1929, several being published in The New Republic and Atlantic Monthly magazines. They were collected, corrected, and published in book form in 1947.
The Kipling and Dickens material was quite interesting and helpful. The other reviews, perhaps less so, although the review of Ulysses served as sufficient warning not to try reading the book despite the brilliance of the author.
George Orwell's, My Country Right or Left, led me to this book and its Kipling essay. For those interested in a deep dip into English Literature, this book is a good destination.
The Kipling and Dickens material was quite interesting and helpful. The other reviews, perhaps less so, although the review of Ulysses served as sufficient warning not to try reading the book despite the brilliance of the author.
George Orwell's, My Country Right or Left, led me to this book and its Kipling essay. For those interested in a deep dip into English Literature, this book is a good destination.
December 2, 2023
I learned two important thigs from this collection of literary essays. First that I should probably give Dickens' novels another look: and secondly that life is too short to try and tackle Finnigan's Wake again.
April 25, 2021
Available at the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/woundandt...
https://archive.org/details/woundandt...
April 3, 2010
Read The Wound and the Bow.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews