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Interplay: A Kind of Commonplace Book
A "commonplace book," must, by its very nature, be unique, a mixture of personal, critical, playful, and profound musings. In Interplay , the noted critic and poet D. J. Enright has arranged and expanded his jottings, thoughts, observations, and impressions from over the years, resulting in a
moving, lucid, and inviting mixture of autobiography and commentary.
Much of what Enright shares concerns literary the eccentricities of reviewing; the reductiveness of current fiction; reflections on modern biography; the necessity and impossibility of censorship; irony and sentimentality; treason among intellectuals; linguistic hanky-panky; literary
theory and literary practice (Proust versus Paul de Man); and some of his new poetry. Interspersed are such fascinating asides as a layman's look at Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, and Barthes; curious points of theology; an account of racial stereotypes, their use and limitations; ars erotica
ancient and modern; sidelights on Chinese and Japanese thought; the obsolete notion of integrity in politics and business; and dreams in life and literature.
To all of these questions and subjects Enright brings his inimitable style and manner, as well as varying moods--sad, humorous, ironic--bound together by his overwhelming humanism that makes life and literature inseparable. This is a brilliant book, full of wit, insight, and intriguing miscellany,
one that serves as an eclectic self-portrait of a leading literary mind and a very telling account of modern attitudes and life as we know it.
moving, lucid, and inviting mixture of autobiography and commentary.
Much of what Enright shares concerns literary the eccentricities of reviewing; the reductiveness of current fiction; reflections on modern biography; the necessity and impossibility of censorship; irony and sentimentality; treason among intellectuals; linguistic hanky-panky; literary
theory and literary practice (Proust versus Paul de Man); and some of his new poetry. Interspersed are such fascinating asides as a layman's look at Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, and Barthes; curious points of theology; an account of racial stereotypes, their use and limitations; ars erotica
ancient and modern; sidelights on Chinese and Japanese thought; the obsolete notion of integrity in politics and business; and dreams in life and literature.
To all of these questions and subjects Enright brings his inimitable style and manner, as well as varying moods--sad, humorous, ironic--bound together by his overwhelming humanism that makes life and literature inseparable. This is a brilliant book, full of wit, insight, and intriguing miscellany,
one that serves as an eclectic self-portrait of a leading literary mind and a very telling account of modern attitudes and life as we know it.
- GenresEssays
250 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 1995
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April 26, 2011
There is a fascination, interest, perhaps passion in which I indulge my eclectic interests. The commonplace book seems to suit my peripatetic mind. It is a writer's personal collection of quotations, observations, and topic ideas.
D. J. Enright has been a teacher of English Literature, an editor, a poet, and an essayist at times in his life. He has also been a collector and as such has accumulated this "commonplace" book out of his own and a few other authors writings. It is a book filled with aphorisms and adages, quotes and quotidian expressions, ideas and essays, or at least the germ of ideas of essays. It is a delight to dip into a book like this, especially from a poetic writer and an eclectic collector like Mr. Enright. It has inspired me (along with a similar work by the poet W. H. Auden) to collect commonplace sayings and selections of my own from some of my favorite authors. This collection is best when dwelling in the world of books and literary pretensions. It can amuse and amaze the reader, sometimes both at the same time.
D. J. Enright has been a teacher of English Literature, an editor, a poet, and an essayist at times in his life. He has also been a collector and as such has accumulated this "commonplace" book out of his own and a few other authors writings. It is a book filled with aphorisms and adages, quotes and quotidian expressions, ideas and essays, or at least the germ of ideas of essays. It is a delight to dip into a book like this, especially from a poetic writer and an eclectic collector like Mr. Enright. It has inspired me (along with a similar work by the poet W. H. Auden) to collect commonplace sayings and selections of my own from some of my favorite authors. This collection is best when dwelling in the world of books and literary pretensions. It can amuse and amaze the reader, sometimes both at the same time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review