On the Pleasure of Hating: and Other Essays - Softcover

On the Pleasure of Hating, William Hazlitt's classic contemplation of human hatred, is in this edition accompanied by several of his finest essays in large print.

As one of England's most distinguished wits of the early 19th century, William Hazlitt was an accomplished author, painter and critic whose barbed prose was notorious in literary circles at the time. Hazlitt wrote the titular essay of this collection in 1826, when his personal circumstances were strained; we thus find his tone both markedly resentful and embittered. On the Pleasure of Hating is, however, among the finest and most consistently insightful and lucid works Hazlitt ever wrote.

Perhaps Hazlitt's greatest claim to prowess was his ability to produce succinct and quotable passages. Each of the six essays in this compendium contain prime examples of the perceptive phrases and summations which Hazlitt regularly produced in his prime. Although typically misanthropic and sour, the author's ability to recognizing and eviscerate aspects of human nature and emotion is lightened by humor and occasionally sarcasm.

William Hazlitt's writing style would flourish relatively late in life; the essays in this collection were written while he was already in his mid-to-late-forties. Yet the knowledge is derived from Hazlitt's own experiences; disappointments in love and vilification by rivals led him to reflect upon the human emotions and particularly man's capacity for hatred, which he found fascinating for its power and poignancy.