Prejudices, Third Series

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
423K words
Chapters
43

Tags

English Originals Social Sciences American SocietyIntellectualsComplex HumanitySocial CritiqueFreedom of SpeechHumor ReliefIntellectual CommentarySatirical Style

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.Prejudices, Third Series by H. L. MenckenAuthor: Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 7, 2016

Editor's review

Prejudices, Third Series is the third collection of Mencken's essays, published in 1918, continuing his trademark sharp tone and skepticism. The book examines American cultural taste, education, literary criticism, and political discourse, with wit that comes thick and fast and a ready use of irony and exaggeration—reading it often feels like being struck exactly where it hurts. Mencken's criticism is not notable for system but for decisive judgment and sharp expression, and it is valuable for understanding the debates of early twentieth-century American intellectual life. This public-domain e-book is easy to search and quote, making it suitable for essay-style reading and for readers studying the history of American literary criticism or journalistic commentary. There is no need to read it from cover to cover; browse the pieces as interest dictates and feel the rhythm and rhetorical strategies of his argument.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents first and pick topics of interest; skip between pieces rather than insisting on order.
  2. After each piece, summarize its core judgment in a sentence or two to train the ability to grasp arguments.
  3. When dense cultural allusions appear, skim past them to keep the reading rhythm and look them up later.
  4. Read alongside Mencken's other essay collections to see what stays constant and what changes in his style.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43

FAQ

What English level is needed to read this book? Mencken has a rich vocabulary and varied sentence patterns and often draws on early twentieth-century American cultural context, so a fairly strong English reading ability is advisable. If your vocabulary is limited, start with shorter pieces on more familiar topics and work through them with notes and reference tools.
Is it suitable for reading from cover to cover? Not really. This is a collection of essays, each relatively independent and with shifting topics. It is more effective to read selectively by interest or in groups, then review the table of contents to sort out the core issues he addresses; this gives a better overall picture than linear reading.
What can readers gain from this book? Two main things: an understanding of how early twentieth-century American intellectuals debated culture, education, and politics; and a feel for a sharp, ironic essay style that can inform critical reading and English argumentative writing.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 Author

H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken, 1880–1956) was a prominent American writer and critic. Public information on the details of his life is limited, but his work is distinctive. The library holds ten of his books, covering language study, social criticism, and philosophical commentary. The American Language examines the development and character of American English and is an important work in language study; the Prejudices series (First, Second, and Third Series) offers sharp essays on society, literature, and cultural life; The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche introduced Nietzsche's thought to English-language readers at an early date; and In Defense of Women, Damn! A Book of Calumny, and A Book of Prefaces display his satirical and argumentative style. His writing is known for its directness, wit, and critical spirit.