Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

27163

Title

Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In this 1916 collection, John Cowper Powys champions the 'art of discrimination' and the necessity of suspending judgment to access the deeper music of the soul. Powys argues against the 'average man' and cosmopolitan blandness, urging readers to embrace their unique racial and personal traditions. Through essays on figures like Blake, Verlaine, and Wilde, he defends the individualistic genius against the tyranny of public opinion and utilitarian morality, celebrating a literature rooted in local soil and passionate fatality.

Summary up to 500 words

In *Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations*, John Cowper Powys presents a manifesto on the 'art of discrimination,' defining it not as cold analysis but as a wilful surrender to one's unique temperament. Powys argues that true criticism requires the collaboration of intellect and nerves, protecting the soul from the 'shallow cleverness' of the modern person who merely tolerates everything rather than passionately loving or hating. He critiques the dangerous cosmopolitan ideal that seeks to blend all traditions, asserting instead that great art springs from specific racial instincts and local traditions. The collection features essays on a wide array of figures, including Montaigne, Pascal, Voltaire, Rousseau, Balzac, Hugo, Maupassant, Verlaine, Gourmont, Blake, Byron, Emily Brontë, Conrad, James, and Wilde. Powys praises Paul Verlaine for his music-like poetry that captures the elusive moments between passion and reason, and Remy de Gourmont for his insatiable curiosity and refusal to seek final truth, noting that truth found would be truth spoiled. Throughout the work, Powys warns that the mob instinctively hates genius and seeks to trample the flame of individual imagination. He calls for a return to the 'classic' traditions of Athens and Rome, where art differentiates and distinguishes rather than synthesizing. The text condemns the 'average man's art' and the notion of a universal humanity in literature, viewing such ideas as a sacrilege that betrays the dead of one's own race. Instead, Powys exhortates readers to suspend their convictions and judgments, allowing the 'still small voice' of the universe to reveal the rare and delicate essence of the self, free from the crude weight of social ardours. He concludes that the most precious things in life are those that the world cannot give or take away, urging individuals to defend their inmost identity against the predatory curse of public opinion.

LLM editorial rating

4.5/5

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Categories

• English Literature
• French Literature