Literary Criticism - a genre of audiobooks on the website knigi-audio.com/en/. Page - 1
The Quintessence of Ibsenism - George Bernard Shaw
The Quintessence of Ibsenism - George Bernard Shaw
- Author: George Bernard Shaw
- Genre: Literary Criticism / Philosophy
George Bernard Shaw, a playwright with a few bones to pick of his own, undertakes a surgical analysis of the social philosophies underlying the work of Henrik Ibsen. Focusing his analysis on Ibsen's challenge to the conventional "ideals" which both...
Essays on Modern Novelists - William Lyon Phelps
Essays on Modern Novelists - William Lyon Phelps
- Author: William Lyon Phelps
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
A collection of essays on 19th century novelists, both famous ones and those largely forgotten now. Among the writers presented most wrote in English, but three foreign authors are also discussed. Phelps taught a course on novels at a university and...
Companionable Books - Henry van Dyke
Companionable Books - Henry van Dyke
- Author: Henry van Dyke
- Genre: Literary Criticism
Many books are dry and dusty, there is no juice in them; and many are soon exhausted, you would no more go back to them than to a squeezed orange; but some have in them an unfailing sap, both from the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. Here I...
Charles Dickens - G. K. Chesterton
Charles Dickens - G. K. Chesterton
- Author: G. K. Chesterton
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism
G. K. Chesterton was a great admirer of Charles Dickens, and wrote a noted critique of Dickens' works expressing his opinion in his own inimitable style. (Summary by Karen Merline)...
Stage Land - Jerome K. Jerome
Stage Land - Jerome K. Jerome
- Author: Jerome K. Jerome
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Humor / Literary Criticism
A comic look at the curious habits and customs of the inhabitants of 'Stage Land'. Dedicated to 'that highly respectable but unnecessarily retiring individual, of whom we hear so much but see so little, "the earnest student of drama".'...
The Novels of Jane Austen - George Henry Lewes
The Novels of Jane Austen - George Henry Lewes
- Author: George Henry Lewes
- Genre: Literary Criticism
An 1859 essay by the prominent philosopher and literary critic, G. H. Lewes, who was an enthusiastic promoter of the novels of Jane Austen at a time when they were yet to achieve great critical acclaim. Lewes was the life partner of the novelist...
Egyptian Tales, translated from the Papyri, Series Two : XVIIIth to XIXth Dynasty - William Matthew Flinders Petrie
Egyptian Tales, translated from the Papyri, Series Two : XVIIIth to XIXth Dynasty - William Matthew Flinders Petrie
- Author: William Matthew Flinders Petrie
- Genre: Literary Criticism / Antiquity
Egyptian stories translated from ancient, often incomplete, documents. - Summary by Timothy Ferguson...
An Essay on Criticism (version 2) - Alexander Pope
An Essay on Criticism (version 2) - Alexander Pope
- Author: Alexander Pope
- Genre: Poetry / Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
The title, An Essay on Criticism hardly indicates all that is included in the poem. It would have been impossible to give a full and exact idea of the art of poetical criticism without entering into the consideration of the art of poetry....
Prejudices, First Series - H. L. Mencken
Prejudices, First Series - H. L. Mencken
- Author: H. L. Mencken
- Genre: Culture & Heritage Fiction / Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
Mencken sharpens his pen and in a collection of short essays delivers acerbic opinions on issues and persons of the time. Among his targets in this volume (the first of six) are critics, H.G. Wells Thorstein Veblen, Arnold Bennett, William Dean...
Old and New Masters - Robert Lynd
Old and New Masters - Robert Lynd
- Author: Robert Lynd
- Genre: Literary Criticism
Jane Austen, WB Yeats, Chesterton, Shaw... these are personal and intelligent short essays on a selection of great (and great-ish) writers: some well known, and some a bit more obscure to the average reader today. Robert Lynd (1879 – 1949) is best...
The Ring and the Book - An Interpretation - Francis Bickford HORNBROOKE
The Ring and the Book - An Interpretation - Francis Bickford HORNBROOKE
- Author: Francis Bickford HORNBROOKE
- Genre: Literary Criticism
Francis Bickford Hornbrooke was an American Unitarian minister who in later years was recognized as an expert commentator on literature, in particular the works of Robert Browning. Of all Browning's output, it was his monumental epic, the Ring and...
Collected Prose - James Elroy FLECKER
Collected Prose - James Elroy FLECKER
- Author: James Elroy FLECKER
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
Best remembered for his poetry, James Elroy Flecker was also a playwright, novelist and prose writer. This collection of his idiosyncratic prose writings includes The Last Generation (a short science fiction story), short sketches, a dialogue, and...
Elizabethan Demonology - Thomas Alfred SPALDING
Elizabethan Demonology - Thomas Alfred SPALDING
- Author: Thomas Alfred SPALDING
- Genre: Literary Criticism / Middle Ages/Middle History / Medieval
Elizabethan Demonology: An Essay in Illustration of the Belief in the Existence of Devils, and the Powers Possessed By Them, as It Was Generally Held during the Period of the Reformation, and the Times Immediately Succeeding; with Special Reference...
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 - Isaac D'ISRAELI
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 - Isaac D'ISRAELI
- Author: Isaac D'ISRAELI
- Genre: History / Literary Criticism
This is the third and final volume of Isaac D'Israeli's monumental work Curiosities of Literature. It covers a great range of diverse topics, by no means limited to literature only, but also containing numerous essays on history, politics, and...
Six lectures on literature - Charles Harold HERFORD
Six lectures on literature - Charles Harold HERFORD
- Author: Charles Harold HERFORD
- Genre: Literary Criticism
C. H. Herford was Professor of English Literature at the Victoria University of Manchester in era when public lectures were published in pamphlet form. The six lectures in this collection span Herford's career at the University during the turbulent...
The Art of Fiction - Henry James
The Art of Fiction - Henry James
- Author: Henry James
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
A lecture on the art of fiction, given by the English critic Walter Besant on April 25, 1884, and an answer to the lecture by American writer Henry James in the same year. (Summary by Julie VW)...
Emily Brontë - Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
Emily Brontë - Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
- Author: Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism
Emily Brontë (1818-1848) is best known for her only novel, "Wuthering Heights." She was born in Yorkshire, northern England, where her father was an Anglican curate. When Brontë was three years old her mother died of cancer. At the age of six she...
Visions and Revisions - John Cowper POWYS
Visions and Revisions - John Cowper POWYS
- Author: John Cowper POWYS
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
Powys presents a set of literary devotions of great figures in Literature who have obsessed him. He attempts not so much a reasoned critique or any attempt to categorise these figures but rather, as he describes in the Preface: "to give [himself]...
Arthur Wing Pinero, Playwright - A Study - Hamilton FYFE
Arthur Wing Pinero, Playwright - A Study - Hamilton FYFE
- Author: Hamilton FYFE
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism / Performing Arts
A discussion about the life and works of the playwright Arthur Wing Pinero. The perfect accompaniment to the plays by Pinero available here at Librivox. (Refer to the etext for cast lists of plays - through 1901 - mentioned in the Section 12...
The Raven and The Philosophy Of Composition - Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven and The Philosophy Of Composition - Edgar Allan Poe
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- Genre: Narratives / Literary Criticism / Writing & Linguistics
Poe’s famous narrative poem and the author’s reflections on its composition. (David Wales)...
Robert Browning - G. K. Chesterton
Robert Browning - G. K. Chesterton
- Author: G. K. Chesterton
- Genre: Literary Criticism
There is an old anecdote, probably apocryphal, which describes how a feminine admirer wrote to Browning asking him for the meaning of one of his darker poems, and received the following reply: "When that poem was written, two people knew what it...
Essays and Literary Studies - Stephen Leacock
Essays and Literary Studies - Stephen Leacock
- Author: Stephen Leacock
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Humor / Literary Criticism
A collection of wry looks at literature, education, and other social phenomena by Canadian humourist and economics professor, Stephen Leacock. (Summary by TriciaG)...
Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre - Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre - Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
- Author: Agnes Mary Frances ROBINSON
- Genre: War & Military / Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism
Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (Marguerite de Navarre), (1492-1549), was the sister of Francis I, King of France. She was highly-educated and was courted by the future Henry VIII of England. However, at the age of seventeen, she was married...
The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance - Edith BIRKHEAD
The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance - Edith BIRKHEAD
- Author: Edith BIRKHEAD
- Genre: *Non-fiction / Literary Criticism
A seminal essay on the development of horror as a genre, highly influential on later writers. - Summary by Timothy Ferguson...
The Secret of Charlotte Brontë - Frederika Richardson MACDONALD
The Secret of Charlotte Brontë - Frederika Richardson MACDONALD
- Author: Frederika Richardson MACDONALD
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism / Modern (19th C)
Twenty years ago, now, I attempted (but was not especially successful in the task) to establish upon the personal knowledge that my own residence as a pupil in the historical Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle, at Bruxelles gave me of the facts of...
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens - G. K. Chesterton
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens - G. K. Chesterton
- Author: G. K. Chesterton
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
“These papers were originally published as prefaces to the separate books of Dickens in one of the most extensive of those cheap libraries of the classics which are one of the real improvements of recent times. Thus they were harmless, being diluted...
The Welsh And Their Literature - George BORROW
The Welsh And Their Literature - George BORROW
- Author: George BORROW
- Genre: Literary Criticism
Originally an article in the US Edition of the London Quarterly Review, George Borrow offers a sweeping history of Welsh literature, beginning with the legendary origin of the Welsh people, then their major bards and poets, and then their works of...
Shakespeare Identified - J. Thomas LOONEY
Shakespeare Identified - J. Thomas LOONEY
- Author: J. Thomas LOONEY
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism
That one who is not a recognized authority or an expert in literature should attempt the solution of a problem which has so far baffled specialists must doubtless appear to many as a glaring act of over- boldness; whilst to pretend to have actually...
Appreciations, with an Essay on Style - Walter Pater
Appreciations, with an Essay on Style - Walter Pater
- Author: Walter Pater
- Genre: Literary Criticism
Appreciations, with an Essay on Style, is a collection of Walter Pater's previously-published essays on literature. The collection was well received by public and critic since its first edition, in 1889. The volume includes an appraisal of the poems...
A Brief History of English and American Literature - Henry A. BEERS
A Brief History of English and American Literature - Henry A. BEERS
- Author: Henry A. BEERS
- Genre: History / Literary Criticism
Henry Augustin Beers, native of Buffalo, NY and professor of English at Yale, with the help of John Fletcher Hurst (1834-1903), Methodist bishop and first Chancellor of American University, has written a sweeping thousand 900 year history of English...
English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World - William J. Long
English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World - William J. Long
- Author: William J. Long
- Genre: Education / Literary Criticism
This book, which presents the whole splendid history of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the close of the Victorian Era, has three specific aims. The first is to create or to encourage in every student the desire to read the best books,...
Ars Poetica and Carmen Saeculare - Quintus HORATIUS FLACCUS
Ars Poetica and Carmen Saeculare - Quintus HORATIUS FLACCUS
- Author: Quintus HORATIUS FLACCUS
- Genre: Poetry / Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
The Ars Poetica, by Horace, also known as Epistula ad Pisones, is a treatise on poetry written in the form of a letter, and published around 18 B.C. In it, Horace defines and exemplifies the nature, scope and correct way of writing poetry. This...
Madame de Staël - Bella DUFFY
Madame de Staël - Bella DUFFY
- Author: Bella DUFFY
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism / Political Science
Madame Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) was the daughter of the Swiss banker and statesman, Jacques Necker. Her mother hosted a popular Paris salon where intellectuals gathered, many of whom contributed to the education of the brilliant girl. After his...
The American Language - H. L. Mencken
The American Language - H. L. Mencken
- Author: H. L. Mencken
- Genre: Literary Criticism / Writing & Linguistics
"It was part of my daily work, for a good many years, to read the principal English newspapers and reviews; it has been part of my work, all the time, to read the more important English novels, essays, poetry and criticism. An American born and...
Fear and Trembling (selections) - Soren KIERKEGAARD
Fear and Trembling (selections) - Soren KIERKEGAARD
- Author: Soren KIERKEGAARD
- Genre: Literary Criticism / Modern / Christianity - Commentary
"And God tempted Abraham and said unto him: take Isaac, thine only son, whom thou lovest and go to the land Moriah and sacrifice him there on a mountain which I shall show thee. Genesis 22:1" Soren Kierkegaard wondered how Abraham made the movement...
The Spirit of the Age; Or, Contemporary Portraits - William Hazlitt
The Spirit of the Age; Or, Contemporary Portraits - William Hazlitt
- Author: William Hazlitt
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Literary Criticism / Social Science (Culture & Anthropology)
William Hazlitt was a keen observer of his time and the people populating the literary landscape. He presents short monographs on such illustrious persons as Jeremy Bentham, known for his philosophy of utility, William Godwin, who raised the...
A Dish of Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare - George MacDonald
A Dish of Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare - George MacDonald
- Author: George MacDonald
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
Readers of George MacDonald are used to his engaging story-telling, winsome characters, and simple theology of trust in God as Father. But this book shows a different side of MacDonald. A Dish of Orts is a varied collection of essays, mostly in the...
The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2) - George Bernard Shaw
The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2) - George Bernard Shaw
- Author: George Bernard Shaw
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
This is an essay providing an extended analysis of the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and of Ibsen's critical reception in England. Shaw uses this "exposition of Ibsenism" to illustrate the imperfections of British society, using the...
Milton - Thomas Babington Macaulay
Milton - Thomas Babington Macaulay
- Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay
- Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
John Milton (1608-1674) was an English poet, classicist, and fearless advocate for civil liberty, who served the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He is best known for his epic poem "Paradise Lost" (1667), a work of sublime imagery and...
Is Shakespeare Dead? - Mark Twain
Is Shakespeare Dead? - Mark Twain
- Author: Mark Twain
- Genre: Essays & Short Works / Literary Criticism
A short, semi-autobiographical work by American humorist Mark Twain. It explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject. In the...
