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On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts: Being an Address Made to a Gentleman's Club Concerning Its Aesthetic Appreciation.
On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts: Being an Address Made to a Gentleman's Club Concerning Its Aesthetic Appreciation. | Thomas de Quincey
11 posts | 7 read | 12 to read
In this dispassionate analysis of the act of murder, De Quincey's innovative, idiosyncratic artistic vision found space for gruesome reportage, satire, literary criticism, and aesthetic judgments, in a work strewn with examples ranging from antiquity to his own time, including the urban serial-killer John Williams. In addition to this essay's Swiftian exercise in irony, he investigated the Williams case further in a postscript, resulting in a dramatic suspense-filled narrative that prefigures Capote's In Cold Blood and the modern true-crime genre. Specifically, On Murder Considered As One of the Fine Arts centers on the notorious career of the murderer John Williams, who in 1811 brutally killed seven people in London's East End. De Quincey's response to Williams's attacks turns morality on its head, celebrating and coolly dissecting the act of murder as performance art; a perverse cause de celebration creeping out of the dank London fog.
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TCLinrow
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Mehso-so

It was.... ok. I think last time I tried to read it I got about half way through, picked something else up for a change of pace and just never went back, because I definitely didn't remember the end of it.

It had its moments for sure, and it was a curious read overall, but I doubt very much that I'll ever go back to it now that I've properly finished it.

#TBRChallenge #ABookThats

TCLinrow 23/80 4y
41 likes1 comment
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Naz786
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Mehso-so

🌟🌟🌟/5

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TCLinrow
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#13inThree is going strong so far I think 😊 was at the gym again this morning so got through another hour and a bit of A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet ❤💙💜 also finished the Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent Tongue (an interesting little story) so now I'm on to book 4 (tagged). Got work for a few hours, but it will be quiet so I'll be reading 😁

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Brie
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Pickpick

A morbid little essay about murder through the centuries, de Quincey examines what makes a "good" murder/murderer/murder victim. He also critiques a society that has become obsessed with sensational murders in this satire.

rubyslippersreads Your cat! ? "Draw me like one of your French girls." ? 8y
Brie @rubyslippersreads Haha I didn't make that connection before, but now that you mention it I see it 8y
vivastory That's a sassy cat! I really liked this De Quincey. Reminded me of Swift's "Modest Proposal" 8y
Brie @vivastory He is! I haven't read that Swift yet, but from what I know of it it does seem like they'd be similar. 8y
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smccallum
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Pickpick

This was delightfully fun and yet another of the little classics that has added to my TBR!

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smccallum
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Penguin little black classics number four, this is probably the most exciting title so far!

saresmoore I saw @vivastory post about this one a few weeks ago. It certainly sounds fascinating! 8y
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colindickey
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Friday reads.

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dianacduque
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Starting it today

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Simona
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LBC for the weekend.

5 likes1 comment