A Critical History of English Literature, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to Milton by David Daiches

A Critical History of English Literature, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to Milton Reviews

• 
  Ritu

  Speaking of his[Abraham Cowley] collection of poems, The Mistress, published in 1647, Dr. Johnson remarked that it had, "no power of seduction. Her beauty and absence, her kindness and cruelty, her disdain and inconstancy, produce no correspondence of emotion. His poetical account of the virtues of plants, and colours of flowers, is not perused with more sluggish frigidity. The compositions are such as might have been written for penance by a hermit, or for hire by a philosophical rhymer who had only heard of another sex."
  
  I- had uncontrollable laughter in me as I read one of the most creative roasts, thinking to myself, "it's okay, Cowley, that's just Johnson's opinion" but right after this-
  
  The modern critic is not disposed to quarrel violently with Johnson's judgement,
  
  Daiches throws that sucker punch with real British humour. Never a dull moment there.
  
  ***
  
  This was around a particularly oppressive and volatile time of Marian persecutions.
  
  The bishops eventually set up machinery to silence their critics, controlling both the press and the pulpit, but no sooner was the machinery completed when the anonymous pamphleteer who called himself Martin Marprelate began to issue his series of spirited attacks on the bishops. These pamphlets, which appeared in 1588 and 1589, have tremendous vigour; popular in style, colloquial in speech, full of witty taunts, vulgar jeers, and all the humourous rhetorical tricks of an expert street-corner orator, they introduced a new manner into religious pamphleteering.
  
  Martin Marprelate was never discovered, yet the printers were caught and that put an end to the pamphleteering. But the bishops had been disturbed.
  
  My man Martin definitely got that BDE.
  
  The History of English Literature is wild. From Bible translators getting burned at the stake to 20th-century artists shaking up the foundations with new theories. There is so much I don't know still.
  
  Getting started with the Daiches books was a daunting task. And I am going to read them again- and again- until the least I can do is quote my favourite parts.
  
  ** [edited]
  added the progress updates-
  
  March 1, 2021 – page 52
  9.56% "This book is called Orrmulum, because Orm made it.
  -This is the first of the ten thousand extant lines of the poem (fortunately, only about one-eighth of the whole survives),...
  
  -Daiches on Orm"
  
  March 2, 2021 – page 79
  14.52% "Once the Middle English writers had learned rhyme, nothing could stop them, and a didactic writer or long-winded romancer given his head in a clippety-clop meter was very hard to stop.
  -Daiches introducing Cursor Mundi.
  I remember laughing aloud on this two years ago the same way I did today. I just might be easily amused. I do enjoy them octosyllabic couplets though, especially Havelok the Dane."
  
  [personal favourite]
  May 5, 2021 – page 309
  56.8% ""What could be done that would make any difference-any difference at all to the things that really mattered? [...] This is a tragedy of moral frustration. What are you going to do about past crimes which have shattered your preconceptions about the nature of life? There is nothing you can ever do about the past, except forget it. And yet, of course, Hamlet could not forget."
  Daiches on Hamlet."
  
  May 10, 2021 – page 428
  78.68% "This "Defence of the English People" is a detailed and scornful reply to Salmasius, mingling legal, historical, and moral arguments with fierce personal attacks on the character, scholarship, and grammar of Salmasius.
  
  - Daiches on Milton, when Salmasius was commissioned by Charles II to write a public attack on Latin. What a flex by Milton. It is deliciously funny to me. He didn't even leave the grammar out. Legend."
  
  
• 
  Pooja Lakhera

  I am in love with this book. It is truly a gem for an English literature students. David Daiches was a wonderful scholar and his writing style is fascinating and witty with British humour included which we can see throughout the book.
  This is the first volume of two and in this Daiches presents the History of English Literature from Anglo Saxon to Milton including Scottish literature background as well.
  I know this volume is little fat for amateurs also can be a little tiresome so I would not suggest this to a beginner but one can try because of it's language which is simple, appealing and gripping.
  I got to know many things which is helpful for a Medieval context of England as an Indian English student there is so much we are not capable of making sense when it comes to medieval context but obviously by consuming European shows, period and historical dramas and with YouTube history documentaries things are easier to understand and more enlightening these days thanks to technology and easy accessibility of resources online.
  My experience with this book was enlightening and amusing.
  Happy reading!
• 
  Ipshita

  While the book is really informative and covers absolutely every topic. It needs to be segregated based on differing topics.
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  Apoorva

  I wouldn't call it a 'good' read, simply because it isn't the best idea for a complete beginner. There were so many poets I just couldn't bring myself to care about, and I don't know how much I would retain beyond the barest facts.
  Still, it was enough to keep me reading until the end (almost, for I skimmed the last two chapters).
  
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  Adriano Bulla

  Sorry, this was once a 'bible' amongst students, I am talking really ancient scholastic history here; however, this is more of a reference text than a 'critical guide'. There is little 'criticism' to be such. I had to do all four volumes as a juvenile reader, and it is not inspiring at all: basic, dry facts on each author in a rather quick sequence, five or so pages on Chaucer, maybe fifteen on Shakespeare, but what can one get from so few pages? I ended up using the then Pelican, now Penguin Guide instead. As I said, good if you need a 'dictionary of English authors', nothing more.
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  Huzaafa Yousuf

  I have conquered the first volume of this dryness, critical literary history, and more dryness. It was quite like travelling through a hot, dry desert: laborious and tough, but fantastic, nevertheless.
  
  Daiches leaves you feeling enlightened, except the enlightenment is very dearly bought.
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  Alina

  its wonderful