Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature - Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition

i first encountered auerbach's "mimesis" in my undergraduate comparative literature studies at UC Irvine. it has remained with me ever since. the beauty of this book is not in its theories, or allusions, or wit. the merit is that it teaches you how to read a book the way books were meant to be read, the way german philologists of the turn of the 20th century read books -- the way nietzsche read books. the range of texts here, from homer to 20th century novelists, demonstrates the skills of reading applied to many different textual challenges. the primary issues are always to get a clear picture of the language and how it is used, to situate the narrative voice and outline what it does and does not depict about the world, the reason for or rhetorical consequences of its representation of reality, the life background and aspirations of the author, and the connection of all these things to the cultural norms in which the text was created.all the chapters can be read as separate essays, although the first chapter, which contrasts homer's lapidary focus on the present moment with the psychological interiority of the bible, should be read first as an introduction to the method and how to apply it. each chapter begins with an excerpt from a literary text, followed by its translation if necessary. the reader should ponder each passage at length in order to assess the text in personal terms before plunging into auerbach's analysis, which will be erudite, thorough, eye opening, at times challenging but frequently convincing. auerbach typically starts with the simplest ordering in a text -- the dramatic scene structures of abbé prevost and voltaire, the syllogistic argument of montaigne's essay, the narrative confusion in gregory of tours -- then cracks open the deeper significance, sometimes by quoting from contrasting passages in other works. he turns from language to historical moment to authorial biography to textual reception, and shows when and how each bit of evidence is useful.the great pleasure in all this is that you cannot come away from "mimesis" reading books as you have before: it is a master tutorial in reading.

Book arrived promptly, was packaged securely, and was described accurately.

Although Auerbach wrote Mimesis 50 years ago, and a great deal of research has been produced since then, his book is still a masterwork, and provides many valuable insights for a range of texts. I highly recommend this book.

A number of excellent analysis of classical books. A must-have for anybody interested in literary theory.

The difficulty that I run into while attempting to review books like MIMESIS is that any functional description of the contents will in all likelihood do more to obscure rather than to illuminate what I enjoyed about it. The book's subtitle deftly underscores what I mean: 'The Representation of Reality in Western Literature', while accurate, in no way suggests the remarkable mental stimulation I felt while reading Auerbach's exegeses of each chapter's sampled texts, the new appreciation I gained for these historical writings, or the simple pleasure of following along as the author explicated his personal insights regarding these excerpts. It is as if the book is more than the sum of its parts - perhaps not to the extent that it transcends the genre of literary criticism, but that it matches the historical cultural mindset with each author's style and even syntactical arrangement to present a picture of how Western Literature evolved over time and what made those advances in its representation of reality possible. As this is the first work I've read from a philologist's point of view, I was amazed and fascinated at Auerbach's techniques, but also appreciative of his ruminative nature, which I felt communicated several complex ideas in a manner any interested layman (especially this one) could follow.If, as Edward Said asserts in the introduction, "MIMESIS is not principally a book providing readers with usable ideas" (he also calls the book "magisterial" and "unforgettable"), I believe it is because Auerbach's methodology is not easily transferred. As a Romance Philologist, his command of the subject seems exhaustive - I'm not likely to strike out on my own and, using Auerbach's methods as my guide, decode writings from antiquity. Nevertheless, the book is inspiring - the chapter on Dante alone is priceless, especially for anyone taking up the  Divine Comedy  in the manner I tried; as if it could be read straight through like a metaphysical adventure tale. What Auerbach does, for me at least, is show precisely how much is missed in this way, how much depth there actually is in the stanzas, why such a work was so groundbreaking as well as implying why it has survived to this day, and illustrate how, armed with information and a proper guide, it CAN be a metaphysical adventure tale. This he accomplishes while excerpting and interpreting 56 lines of the epic.Doubtless there are many readers out there who will question some of Auerbach's conclusions, or object to the fact that MIMESIS is so blatantly Eurocentric. I think that is missing the point. Whether or not Auerbach is inclusive enough to satisfy modern sensibilities (MIMESIS was first published in 1946), or whether his interpretations are infallible, excludes the fact that, in this reader at least, his work is a spark, a trigger for further study. For those already interested in literary criticism, there is no better recommendation that I can give it.Although the look inside feature in not available for this book here on Amazon, potential readers are urged to read at least the first chapter, which can be accessed online by typing in its title, "Odysseus' Scar", into a search engine. One's appreciation of that excerpt should be an effective yardstick for estimating your interest in the rest of the book.

good, informative text, adequate translation

If you want to get into the world of criticism, this is the book to start with. It clears your mind.

mediocre condition, as expected