In like manner, almost all the fictions of the last age will vanish, if you deprive them of a hermit and a wood, a battle and a shipwreck.

– Samuel Johnson

Building on this from yesterday. Here Samuel Johnson claims one of the qualities writers of this time were lacking was “real-world” experience. The need for getting out of “solitary diligence” and shoving their hands in the mud.

The task of our present writers is very different; it requires, together with that learning which is to be gained from books, that experience which can never be attained by solitary diligence, but must arise from general converse, and accurate observation of the living world. Their performances have, as Horace expresses it, plus oneris quantum veniae minus, ⁵ little indulgence, and therefore more difficulty. They are engaged in portraits of which every one knows the original, and can detect any deviation from exactness of resemblance. Other writings are safe, except from the malice of learning, but these are in danger from every common reader; as the slipper ill executed was censured by a shoemaker who happened to stop in his way at the Venus of Apelles. ⁶

Samuel Johnson

Cracking Samuel Johnson is a fistfight. One needs assistance to punch through. Chat GPT4 was my tag team partner, leading me to the Rambler, No. 4.

A prompt below:

RAMBLER, No. 4 was a shorter essay than I expected. It’s a good entry point to Samuel Johnson. My initial interpretation is he’s criticizing the novel writing of his day. It needs a second read.