collected
Nonfiction · Essays · Philosophy · Religion & Spirituality
About 7 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 16 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
Are there things people should choose not to know? Roger Shattuck examines that question through Western myths and literature, from Adam and Eve to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, before turning to the Manhattan Project and genetic engineering. He argues that curiosity and the freedom to investigate carry moral responsibilities, and challenges the celebration of taboo-breaking in the writings of the Marquis de Sade.
Scholarly but conversational, the book moves through close literary readings and historical case studies rather than building a single continuous argument. Its extended, forceful treatment of Sade makes pornography, sexual abuse, and violence substantial subjects; the scientific discussions occupy only part of this work of cultural criticism.
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
Somewhat. The prose is scholarly but conversational; the main demand comes from the philosophical ideas and close literary readings. The pace is measured, and the chapters move through case studies rather than developing one continuous argument.
No. Scientific discussions, including the Manhattan Project and genetic engineering, occupy only part of the work. Shattuck approaches the responsibilities of curiosity largely through Western myths, literature, and cultural criticism.
Strong discussions of pornography, sexual abuse, and violence are substantial subjects in the extended, forceful treatment of the Marquis de Sade. That discussion is part of Shattuck’s challenge to the celebration of taboo-breaking.
Not really. The approach is theoretical, using philosophical argument, close literary readings, and historical case studies to examine moral responsibility. It suits an interest in debating the limits of inquiry rather than seeking practical instructions.
About 384 pages in the Harcourt Brace 1997 edition. The measured pace and extended literary readings make it a sustained work of cultural criticism.
Harcourt Brace · 1997 · Paperback. ISBN 9780156005517.
About 7 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 384-page Harcourt Brace edition. Dense books can take longer.
Roger Shattuck’s literary criticism and intellectual history share a concern with how modern culture tests the limits of art, knowledge, and human responsibility. He connects close attention to form with larger ethical questions, grounding his arguments in particular lives, texts, and cases. His portraits of Rousseau, Satie, Jarry, and Apollinaire in The Banquet Years present modernism as a set of distinct experiments rather than a single movement. Elsewhere, he considers the costs of pursuing knowledge: The Forbidden Experiment examines the suffering behind a case involving a child raised outside ordinary society, while Forbidden Knowledge traces arguments about curiosity and restraint from biblical myth to modern science. His study of Proust shows the same preference for telling particulars, using gestures, jokes, social rituals, and remembered sensations to reveal a novel’s larger design. Across these subjects, Shattuck brings cultural history, close reading, and moral judgment into sustained conversation.
