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Eminent Victorians Oxford World Classics Lytton Strachey John Sutherland Books

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Eminent Victorians Oxford World Classics Lytton Strachey John Sutherland Books

Consider the book, Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. A book with that title by an author with that name seems fated to die on a doily in a dark parlor. Or so I thought before I swallowed hard and read it. Turned out to be a lively, trenchant treasure.

All four subjects of this book are out-sized. Henry Manning, switching from the Church of England to the Church of Rome, became a cardinal in the bargain and a central figure in British church and state affairs. "The Lady of the Lamp" Florence Nightingale, the heroine of the Crimea, founded modern nursing. A driven hyper-critic in an angel suit, she crusaded for hospital reform while hovering "near death" for the fifty years following the Light Brigade's charge. Thomas Arnold, headmaster at Rugby, triggered change in the British public school system, putting intellect third behind good conduct and religious principle. General Gordon, was an intense and eccentric polymath hero in China but eventually a victim of Sudanese violence and British politics.

Strachey's four portraits show able, strong and willful people all astringently sure of themselves and, to varying degrees, mentally mis-calibrated. Alongside them, he delivers vivid cameos of Victorians ranging from Newman to Gladstone to Victoria herself, each with mental dents and bendings of their own.

Common to all the principal figures is a personal struggle on behalf of, with, against, or about, God. Of course, if there is no God, the struggles were a waste of time. And if there IS a God, the struggles were no less a waste since the principals could never do better than finish an infinitely distant second. Strachey never actually says exactly that. But the agonies over God drift through his book like mist through muslin.

This is a very fine work, a full purse of polished prose expressed with the cadence of hymns, the force of surprise, and the occasional bite of an adder. ("The great bulk of the clergy walked calmly along the smooth road of ordinary duty.") Sadly, the fine writing is poorly served by a clumsy publisher. To site only the most visible faux pas among scores of them, the back cover includes the statement that the book "was first published in 1818." No doubt this would have come as surprising news to Lytton Strachey who was not born until 1880.


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Eminent Victorians Oxford World Classics Lytton Strachey John Sutherland Books Reviews

The four essays are easy to read. Strachey basically imitates Gibbon's style, although he disclaims it. Unlike current biography, there is clearly much that cannot be stated - as being unacceptable to the then-contemporary reader - and has to be hinted at, creating a rather feline atmosphere. Some minor figures border on caricature politicians, Pius IX, but Strachey provides many fascinating details of 19th century background to his chosen subjects, probably unknown to the modern reader.
Although it sometimes comes at the expense of clarity, there is some artful writing here. Some examples

On public school education
"A system of anarchy tempered by despotism. A life in which licensed barbarism was mingled with the daily and hourly study of the niceties of Ovidian verse."

On Monsignor Talbot
He could apply flattery with so unsparing a hand that even princes of the church found it sufficient."

On Dr. Hall
"A rough terrier of a man who had worried his way to the top of his profession."

On Cardinal Newman
"With a sinking heart, he realized at last the painful truth it was not the nature of his views, it was his having views at all that was objectionable."

If it is sardonic wit you want, you will find it here, in these four essays. Whether you will find these particular Victorians interesting is another matter. General Gordon, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Thomas Arnold, and Cardinal Manning are not as relevant today as they once were. But these psychologically penetrating essays created quite a stir in their time, and even changed the course of the art of biography.
The book itself is a classic of cultural history, and well as a landmark in the history of biography. Our modern up-close-and-personal psychology-from-a distance with juicy tidbits style of biography started with this book. Of course, Strachey, of Bloomsbury Group fame, was quite a character.

The EDITION, however, is wretched. This is one of those we-print-one-when-you-order-it numbers. It is loaded with obvious typo errors, sometimes several on a page. Also zero context-setting editor's introduction or afterword. Much better to get the Penguin, or whatever, and have a professional job of it.
Lytton Strachey writes exceedingly well. He "pulls no punches" and varies from hero/heroine worship, when deserved, to demonization, when also deserved. Thus Florence Nightingale comes off pretty well, including things she did with great courage beyond just the common image of her. Cardinal Manning was "not a nice man," changed his religion when t'other side seemed more likely to provide preferment, and schemed against supposed friends. Thomas Arnold was a martinet who caused a lot of damage to generations of English youngsters. And Gordon was fruitcake. Great stuff and fun and instructive to read. .
Consider the book, Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. A book with that title by an author with that name seems fated to die on a doily in a dark parlor. Or so I thought before I swallowed hard and read it. Turned out to be a lively, trenchant treasure.

All four subjects of this book are out-sized. Henry Manning, switching from the Church of England to the Church of Rome, became a cardinal in the bargain and a central figure in British church and state affairs. "The Lady of the Lamp" Florence Nightingale, the heroine of the Crimea, founded modern nursing. A driven hyper-critic in an angel suit, she crusaded for hospital reform while hovering "near death" for the fifty years following the Light Brigade's charge. Thomas Arnold, headmaster at Rugby, triggered change in the British public school system, putting intellect third behind good conduct and religious principle. General Gordon, was an intense and eccentric polymath hero in China but eventually a victim of Sudanese violence and British politics.

Strachey's four portraits show able, strong and willful people all astringently sure of themselves and, to varying degrees, mentally mis-calibrated. Alongside them, he delivers vivid cameos of Victorians ranging from Newman to Gladstone to Victoria herself, each with mental dents and bendings of their own.

Common to all the principal figures is a personal struggle on behalf of, with, against, or about, God. Of course, if there is no God, the struggles were a waste of time. And if there IS a God, the struggles were no less a waste since the principals could never do better than finish an infinitely distant second. Strachey never actually says exactly that. But the agonies over God drift through his book like mist through muslin.

This is a very fine work, a full purse of polished prose expressed with the cadence of hymns, the force of surprise, and the occasional bite of an adder. ("The great bulk of the clergy walked calmly along the smooth road of ordinary duty.") Sadly, the fine writing is poorly served by a clumsy publisher. To site only the most visible faux pas among scores of them, the back cover includes the statement that the book "was first published in 1818." No doubt this would have come as surprising news to Lytton Strachey who was not born until 1880.