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James Boswell
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Life of Johnson (Oxford World's Classics) Paperback – Unabridged, August 1, 2008

by James Boswell (Author), R. W. Chapman (Editor), J. D. Fleeman (Editor),
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 154 ratings
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This complete and unabridged edition is the only complete critical edition in paperback. Samuel Johnson was a poet, essayist, dramatist, and pioneering lexicographer, but his continuing reputation depends less on his literary output than on the fortunate accident of finding an ideal biographer in James Boswell. As Johnson's constant and admiring companion, Boswell was able to record not only the outward events of his life, but also the humour, wit, and sturdy common sense of his conversation. His brilliant portrait of a major literary figure of the eighteenth century, enriched by historical and social detail, remains a monument to the art of biography.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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  1. Print length
    1536 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    7.7 x 2.4 x 5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0199540217
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0199540211
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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`Boswell's life must be the greatest biography ever written; crammed with sage advice and anecdotes both comical and touching, it is best taken unabridged.' The Week

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Unabridged edition (August 1, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1536 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199540217
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199540211
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.64 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.7 x 2.4 x 5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 154 ratings

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James Boswell

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
154 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rosemarie
5.0 out of 5 stars incredibly incredible
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2015
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The greatest "novel" ever written. Boswell made his chum up in his head and animated his imagination with one of THE greatest creations--about one of the greatest creative creators in history--ever. Read it--abridged or no--and weep (and laugh like mad, and be blown away with profundity, humanity, character, incredible anecdotes, insights, drama, the LOT). Amazing book. Have read it twenty times if I've read it once.
7 people found this helpful
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Earache
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional biography as everyone should know. However this book ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017
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Exceptional biography as everyone should know. However this book is so we'll footnoted referenced and arranged as to make it much more enjoyable to those wanting read it for the first time. It is a big book and the only complaint I have is the the print is a bit small and the ink in the lettering could be a darker font. Also if you purchase the book edition the hardcover would be wise!!
13 people found this helpful
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Walter E. Hampton Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars The best biography ever written
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2023
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Boswell had the unique ability to remember and record complete conversations between Johnson and all the notable artists, writers and statesmen he befriended. For biographies, there is no equal.
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VA Book Lover
5.0 out of 5 stars the best paperback edition
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2009
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When reading a classic such as Boswell's Life of Johnson, you are mainly looking for two things: good typography and a knowledgeable editor. In this Penguin edition (2008) you get both. With more than 1250 pages of reading, you don't want to be tortured or discouraged by tiny or overstylized type. Here the designer has chosen Adobe Sabon in 9 pt type -- perfect for reading comfortably for long stretches. And you'd be hard pressed to find a better 18th-century scholar than David Womersley (at Oxford). He seems to have a penchant for tackling long and difficult books: Previously, he edited a beautiful edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, also published by Penguin. His editorial notes are well supported, unobtrusive, and beautifully written -- a real class act. So if you're looking for the right edition, this is it! Enjoy.
151 people found this helpful
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MobilePaper
5.0 out of 5 stars Would buy again.
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2019
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The narrator is key to the quality of an audiobook. Bernard Mayes does not disappoint. Another purchaser was not happy with the audio quality, but I find the audio (Kindle for iPhone) to be fine. This is one classic I enjoy listening to more than reading. Also, you get your money's worth - 54 hours.
4 people found this helpful
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LeoM
4.0 out of 5 stars Johnson was a staunch Tory devoted to king and country who hated Americans even before the Revolution
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2015
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James Boswell was the ultimate fan-boy. On page 702 (the text of the Penguin Classic is a little over a thousand pages, plus indexes and notes), Boswell tells a group of men, “I cannot help worshipping him, he is so much superiour to other men.” From the time Johnson’s English dictionary appeared, Boswell was hooked, and went out of his way to arrange a meeting, succeeding in 1763. From then on he became a near-constant companion and confidant for the next 21 years. Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson heaps praise upon its subject to an almost embarrassing degree while simultaneously attempting to preserve unfiltered every morsel of barbed opinion, witty retort, and pithy remark ever uttered by Johnson.

The result is that Johnson comes across as a pompous but often hilarious windbag who seemingly could prattle for hours on virtually any subject, even taking contradictory stands just to keep conversations lively. Boswell admits on page 504 that Johnson saw “conversation as a contest.” Indeed, Johnson treated conversation as jazzmen do cutting contests, and he played to win even if it meant verbally zinging friends as well as foes.

Johnson was a staunch Tory devoted to king and country who hated Americans even before the Revolution. On page 693 Boswell notes in 1778 that Johnson “attacked the Americans with intemperate vehemence of abuse.” (No one would ever charge Johnson with being a liberal, though he was against slavery; curiously, fawning acolyte Boswell disagreed and saw slavery as sanctioned in the Bible.) Johnson was also devoted to the Church of England (on page 230 we find Voltaire referring to Johnson as “a superstitious dog”). But set him at a tavern table with a group of other loquacious gents, and the verbiage flew like shrapnel. (Johnson on page 505: “...there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness has been produced as by a good tavern or inn.”) One of their literary group, Colly Cibber, wrote in a play, “There is no arguing with Johnson; for when his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.”

Johnson’s often antique opinions can be startling, whether on the subject of women, marriage, politics (p. 716, on whether public officials should be appointed by seniority or voted for: “...there is no more reason to suppose that the choice of a rabble will be right, than that chance will be right”), the existence of witches and ghosts, or his belief that teachers should be free to beat their pupils. P. 344: “...a schoolmaster has a prescriptive right to beat; and that an action of assault and battery cannot be admitted against him, unless there is some great excess, some barbarity...In our schools in England, many boys have been maimed, yet I never heard of an action against a schoolmaster on that account.” Johnson’s defense of this is that it was done to him as a boy and he turned out all right.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has about nine pages of quotes attributed to Samuel Johnson. Such collections are fine as shortcuts, but if you want the context of those remarks, as well as many, many others (along with a fascinating look at 18th century London life), Boswell’s biography is without peer as an entertaining history.
44 people found this helpful
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psr
5.0 out of 5 stars A rite of passage
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2015
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A tome - an endless and somewhat sycophantic rant as Boswell lingers on Johnson all his live long life! Brings the sense of the era absolutely but takes ages to get through --- read other things along the way to help you through - think of it as a rite of passage!
6 people found this helpful
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Jake Wilson
3.0 out of 5 stars this is a difficult read
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021
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I stopped reading it.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2023
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This is an excellent book, historic for many reasons. Mainly because it is many books in one. It is a biography (of one of the greatest writers ever), a heartfelt love letter from a friend, a eulogy, a chronicle of England in the XVII century, and then some. It is a very long book, and thus at over 1200 pages very heavy. Everything in it is grand: the text takes over 1000 pages, the introduction over 50, the notes (magnificent) other 50; and, very much last but not least, a biographical dictionary of those named in the book - a who's who of Europe's cultural landscape during and before the Enlightenment, gets to almost 100 pages. And yet it is all a more than fruitful and gripping read.
Those were the days when Benjamin Franklin will show up for dinner, or when David Hume was always around in the pubs looking for someone to play chess with. Or when the debates on current events via the newspapers were between Voltaire and Dr Johnson. Those were the days indeed, and James Boswell deals with the characters, the events and the history with astonishing ease, and sublime prose, and not for one line - along 1000 pages - making the tale less interesting.
And then, of course, the book deals with the like of the immense Samuel Johnson and in such a way that this is still - almost 250 years after being published - the best biography of a man subject of thousands of essays, studies and biographies; and the writer that was, according to Harold Bloom, the best book reviewer ever.
Samuel Johnson, reviewing a Dictionary of Trade and Commerce, wrote that its author made a wonderful volume, as he had "the gift of embellishing all he touches". Not that the life of the Doctor needed any embellishment, but that comment can be applied quite justly, to this "Life of Samuel Johnson".
One person found this helpful
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Matías
5.0 out of 5 stars Maravillosa edición
Reviewed in Spain on March 24, 2021
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A todo aquel que quiera leer una de las obras más maravillosas de la literatura universal, un libro prácticamente infinito (literal y figuradamente), una biblia de anécdotas, una lección de estilo en cada página. Es más británico que la reina de Inglaterra: conciso, pragmático e irónico. Puede leerse en un espacio de tiempo considerable (leerlo de una sola sentada es la locura).
El papel de la edición es un goce, muy fino.
Uno de los mayores placeres que puede dar la lectura, acerca de uno de los hombres de letras más distinguidos que ha habido.
Recomendaría una compra de cualquiera de esta serie.
10/10.
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Ama Zon
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful
Reviewed in India on May 25, 2017
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very helpful book...reasonable price...wonderful quality
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dr william m dobson
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2016
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A classic read
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Durchhalten... es lohnt sich!
Reviewed in Germany on April 16, 2016
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Als Boswells magnum opus bei mir ankam, dachte ich zunächst nur holy sh** angesichts des Umfangs von ca. 1400 Seiten, von denen allein über 1000 den letzten zwanzig(!) Lebensjahren gewidmet sind, die James 'Bozzy' Boswell mit Samuel Johnson verbrachte. Abgesehen von Boswells umfangreichen Fußnoten, die den Lesefluss irgendwie schon beträchtlich stören, war ich dennoch sehr angetan von seinem Life of Johnson. Natürlich darf nicht verheimlicht werden, dass Boswell sein Bestes tat, um seinen Helden im angemessenen Licht erstrahlen zu lassen. Dennoch fand ich die Ansichten und den Charakter des 'Clubbingmans' Johnson recht interessant und stellenweise sympathisch, sieht man einmal von seiner pedantischen Rechthaberei ab. Alles in allem betrachtet ist es durchaus bereichernd den Schmöker durchzuackern, allein schon was den skizzierten gesellschaftliche Umgang der intellektuellen Elite Englands (Johnson, Gibbon, Burke etc.) im Zeitalter der Aufklärung, sowie deren Ansichten betrifft.
M. E. zu Recht eine der größten literarischen Biographien aller Zeiten!
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