Obiter Dicta

Birrell, Augustine, 1850-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 194K words
Chapters: 20

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Obiter Dicta by Augustine BirrellAuthor: Birrell, Augustine, 1850-1933,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2005

Editor's review

Obiter Dicta is a collection of essays by Augustine Birrell; the title means "things said by the way," and the style is relaxed and bookish. Birrell was an English man of letters and essayist, and these essays mostly concern reading, people, and literary topics; the tone is genial, rich in allusion and irony, and suited to browsing in spare moments. Its value lies not in systematic argument but in conveying the pleasure of the English essay: discussing literature in an unhurried manner, with personal bias and witty observation alike. For readers who enjoy Lamb-style essays or want a sense of late nineteenth-century English familiar essay style, this book offers pleasant reading. Note that the text is a public-domain English ebook; its topics and allusions bear the marks of their era, and some content may feel remote to contemporary readers—best treated as casual reading rather than a research base text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English familiar essays and literary prose
People who want light English essay reading in spare moments
Readers interested in late nineteenth-century English literary taste
Readers accustomed to English works rich in allusion and unhurried in tone

Not a good fit for

Readers needing systematic literary history or scholarly argument
Readers who prefer modern vernacular and fast-paced content
Beginners unfamiliar with English allusions and period background

Reading tips

No need to read straight through; dip into essays that interest you.
Mark unfamiliar allusions and look them up afterward rather than interrupting the reading rhythm.
Keep the book by the bed or in a commuting bag, reading one or two essays at a time to preserve the casual essay feel.
After finishing, pick a favorite essay and try retelling its tone and wit in Chinese.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What does Obiter Dicta mean?

It is Latin for "things said by the way" or "incidental remarks," often referring to informal reflections and asides. As a title, it reflects the book's casual essay style rather than systematic treatise.

Is this book suited to close reading or casual reading?

It is better suited to casual browsing. The essays are relatively independent and unhurried; there is no need to pursue a reading schedule. If an essay appeals to you, pause to read closely and check its allusions.

How difficult is the English?

It is the English of a literary essayist: unhurried sentences but many allusions and period references, somewhat distant for contemporary readers. Those with intermediate or better English reading ability and a willingness to check background will find it smoother.

Comments

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About the author

Birrell, Augustine, 1850-1933 Author

Augustine Birrell (1850–1933) was an English writer and man of letters; public information on the details of his life is limited. Five of his works are held here, chiefly essays and critical papers, together with a literary biography. The essay collections Obiter Dicta and its Second Series represent his achievement in the familiar essay, written with ease and wide reference, offering insight in a conversational manner. In the Name of the Bodleian, and Other Essays centres on libraries and books and conveys a booklover's pleasure, while Res Judicatæ: Papers and Essays gathers further papers and essays. He also wrote Andrew Marvell, a study of the seventeenth-century poet. His polished, bookish style will appeal to readers fond of the English essay tradition. This note is based on the information available here and on well-established public knowledge.