On Murder Considered As One of the Fine Arts: Being an Address Made to a Gentleman's Club Concerning its Aesthetic Appreciation. Paperback – February 8, 2014

Arrived in pristine condition!

Learned, Swiftian Satire. By no means essential , any writings/ musings by the renowned Opium Eater, T. De Quincey is a worthy edition to any appreciator of the Romantic era's library. Especially recommended to lover's of the dead language: Latin.

This book was totally wasted on me. I obviously couldn’t appreciate its deeper meaning such as highlighting the impulsivity and ability of someone to end another life or the witty thought about a philosopher not being of any worth if no one has ever attempted to murder him. I simply couldn’t enjoy it like others have described it: satirical, humorous (black humour), hysterical etc.. I didn’t find anything funny in that essay.I’ll describe my gut reaction to it. I was baffled and left nauseated by this essay. It reports about a lecture heard at an infamous London society during the 19th century (around 1827), the Society of Connoisseurs in Murder. As the author points out it should rather be named a society for the promotion of murders.The lecturer, an intellectual, talks about murder as if it was a fine art and not an ignominious crime. For me this book is a depiction and reflection on London society at that time. As appalling as this sounds to me nowadays, there was a time when trivialising killing and talking playfully about taking someone else’s life was an entertainment tolerated and even enjoyed by highly educated members of a notorious society in London.  SWEET SUGAR

I had always assumed that Thomas de Quincy, writing over a hundred years ago, would have been quite an old fashioned view of life (and murder) but I was very surprised to read this clever, very well written book (an extended article, really). It is darkly humorous, thoughtful and speaks to a modern audience with great relevance.

I ordered "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" by Thomas DeQuency but the book I received was "The Saga of Gunnlqug Serpent-tongue" which is some Icelandic saga. As you can see on the image that I have shared, they even taped over the sticker for the book I ordered on this book.Totally disappointed. I'm planning to return this book and see if I can get the right one. This is the first time I'm getting such an issue from Amazon.

Nice Read.

Lovely book to add to the collection

Great. Love DeQuincey