Warner Taylor (1880–1958)

This is another old book I found in a thrift store book section not long ago. I always pick up books of essays and have rarely been left utterly disappointed. This book pretty much proves that rule. I enjoyed a few of the essays within, chuckled at the archaic thinking when it came to certain subjects, and quickly scanned the boring overly-wordy ones for points of interest. I liked some of these essays, some I like but with caveats, and there are a few that I found nearly unreadable.
The essays I really enjoyed were Aes Triplex by Robert Louis Stevenson, A Green Hill Far Away (an anti-war piece in the aftermath of WWI) by John Galsworthy, A Coquette's Heart (a pretty entertaining horror-like tale of a dream/nightmare) by Joseph Addison, On Going a Journey by William Hazlitt, Jungle Night by William Beebe, three descriptive sketches (Lichen, The Open Sky, The Northland) by John Ruskin, and The Mississippi and New Orleans by Lafcadio Hearn (these last two by Hearn are ruined by his nostalgia for the physical remnants of slavery). The Francis Bacon excerpts definitely earn an honorable mention, there were a few eloquent lines here and there I appreciated. So, I found plenty to enjoy here however, there were a few that were just boring and objectionable to modern sensibilities.
The boring essays were pretty much limited to the last section titled Essays on College Life, my reaction was not wholly unforeseen. The essays tended to be classist (The Social Value of the College-bred by William James), just too long (Alexander Meiklejohn's Inaugural Address; it does speak well of teachers though), sexist (College Spirit by David Starr Jordan though this one also contains an anti-hazing bit which is good), and just plain boring and long-winded such as Woodrow Wilson's The Spirit of Learning.
Overall, I would recommend this one to those who enjoy reading essays (especially really old ones) and can get their hands on this book for only a few bucks.… (més)