holtfan's review against another edition
4.0
It is good to know there is someone out there in the world with even less originality when it comes to titles than I have. Of course, it probably was the style of the time.
I'm encouraged anyway.
I liked Autobiography. Mill's writing is tight and well-written. His life is interesting and he does a good job examining the sources (books and people) that shaped his life. It does get a tad long when reading about said sources at 1 am, but otherwise I found it enjoyable and interesting. His enthusiasm for his wife is very apparent. I expected more about her.
It is interesting that he does not despair of his upbringing. Though he points out a few things that might have been better (like not having him teach his sisters Latin) he nevertheless notes to some degree the large success of it. He considers his abilities average. Perhaps posterity has cast his father in the role of villain unduly.
Mill is encouraging because he affirms human desire for inner fulfillment. He found it in "culture" - poetry, art, music. As society strives to be more scientific, mathematics, reasoned...this book is a reminder that a life devoid of inward emotional cultivation will eventually burn out before its time.
I'm encouraged anyway.
I liked Autobiography. Mill's writing is tight and well-written. His life is interesting and he does a good job examining the sources (books and people) that shaped his life. It does get a tad long when reading about said sources at 1 am, but otherwise I found it enjoyable and interesting. His enthusiasm for his wife is very apparent. I expected more about her.
It is interesting that he does not despair of his upbringing. Though he points out a few things that might have been better (like not having him teach his sisters Latin) he nevertheless notes to some degree the large success of it. He considers his abilities average. Perhaps posterity has cast his father in the role of villain unduly.
Mill is encouraging because he affirms human desire for inner fulfillment. He found it in "culture" - poetry, art, music. As society strives to be more scientific, mathematics, reasoned...this book is a reminder that a life devoid of inward emotional cultivation will eventually burn out before its time.
nicholasbobbitt1997's review
4.0
It seems to me there are few better stamps of quality on a book than to read in the introduction that Thomas Carlyle disliked it. Carlyle, in my personal view, wouldn't know how to write an interesting narrative if a talented writer bit him on the ass.
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