Aparentemente cínico lo que hace de Quincey es parapetarse tras el humor para criticar a la sociedad en su postura ante el crimen. Con fina ironía incide en analizar el crimen voluptuoso pero también el crimen por motivos materiales. Sin mencionarlo reflexiona también sobre el crimen de estado. Interesante la disertación entre el juicio moral versus juicio estético. ( )

satiric essay on the human fascination with murder

Eccentric, unique and rather funny. It is a mannered send-up of belles-lettres and aesthetic criticism, applied to the history and practice of murder. What could have been grotesque is instead amusingly absurd, and the author's own reference to Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal" is quite fitting.

No. 4 in the Little Black Classics series. Once again, this collection delivers a taste of a work long-forgotten but worth remembering. ( )

Fair, but not my cup of tea at all. It was interesting to see a bit of philosophy thrown into the mix where murder is concerned, although this monograph was roughly a century before the start of criminology, not to mention forensic psychology. Not my style at all, but still an interesting dip into murder as posed nearly two-hundred years ago. ( )

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Thomas de Quincey states at the start of the essay that it is a transcript from a meeting of a mysterious group of gentleman who are fascinated by murder. The rest of the essay is then the transcript and elaborates on several murders and the murder of philosophers.

Based on the fact that people are usually (to some extant) fascinated by murder, I was really looking forward to it. However, I didn't think it was as hilarious as the description told me. The humor was rather bad or maybe sometimes I just didn't get it. I don't think I would read a complete book by Thomas de Quincey.

Little Black Classics #4 ( )