About book The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary (2002)
READING, n. The general body of what one reads. In our country it consists, as a rule, of Indiana novels, short stories in "dialect" and humor in slang. REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it, Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it) At work upon a book, and so read out of it The qualities that you have first read into it.I have been procrastinating reviewing this book out of laziness(n. Unwarranted repose of manner in a person of low degree.) and the fact that there are other things I wanted to read but I have always came back to this book. This book is simply a satirical-cynical parody of your standard dictionary(n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.) It is a fun read to just look-up common words and see what Bierce's smart-ass definition of it is. For instance since this site deals with books let's see another reading definition: NOVEL, n. A short story padded. A species of composition bearing the same relation to literature that the panorama bears to art. As it is too long to be read at a sitting the impressions made by its successive parts are successively effaced, as in the panorama. Unity, totality of effect, is impossible; for besides the few pages last read all that is carried in mind is the mere plot of what has gone before. To the romance the novel is what photography is to painting. Its distinguishing principle, probability, corresponds to the literal actuality of the photograph and puts it distinctly into the category of reporting; whereas the free wing of the romancer enables him to mount to such altitudes of imagination as he may be fitted to attain; and the first three essentials of the literary art are imagination, imagination and imagination. The art of writing novels, such as it was, is long dead everywhere except in Russia, where it is new. Peace to its ashes -- some of which have a large sale. This was written in 1906 to understand the context.How about some definitions from the W's: WALL STREET, n. A symbol for sin for every devil to rebuke. That Wall Street is a den of thieves is a belief that serves every unsuccessful thief in place of a hope in Heaven. WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. WASHINGTONIAN, n. A Potomac tribesman who exchanged the privilege of governing himself for the advantage of good government. In justice to him it should be said that he did not want to. (This man was an oracle). WEATHER, n. The climate of the hour. A permanent topic of conversation among persons whom it does not interest, but who have inherited the tendency to chatter about it from naked arboreal ancestors whom it keenly concerned WITCH, n. (1) Any ugly and repulsive old woman, in a wicked league with the devil. (2) A beautiful and attractive young woman, in wickedness a league beyond the devil. Most of the book is like that; it doesn't take itself seriously and it dares you to take it seriously. All it serves is to make you laugh or smirk at a particular definition. I'm surprised this whole book isn't entered into the Goodreads quote section.
I do recognize the genius of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary. I giggled, I guffawed, I snorted, and I laughed in turns. I smiled at some particularly insightful bits of satire. I nodded happily when Bierce's wit assaulted his peers or scored a palpable hit on an issue or a word I wanted to see skewered. I wanted so badly to enjoy Bierce's classic more than I did, but for every entry I enjoyed there was another that made me bored (I should mention, however, that there was nothing that I hated), and I found myself slogging through to the next definition rather than enjoying where I was at. Bierce was particularly somnolent when he turned to humorous verse to flesh out his definitions. The man had a gift for prose, but he had no gift for poetry. His verse was, occasionally, funny -- I will concede that -- but much of it simply made me yawn.Some of this could be me, some of this could be the distance in time between Bierce and myself, but some of it must be Bierce too.I recognize The Devil's Dictionary's place as a classic, and it certainly deserves the title; I also think everyone should have a copy lying around to pick up and put down whenever they need something stimulating to read (it could be the perfect toilet book, and I don't mean that in a bad way). But, sadly, my feelings about the book never surpassed contented enjoyment. Would you care to riposte, Mr. Bierce?"CRITIC, n. A person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him.There is a land of pure delight,Beyond the Jordan's flood,Where saints, apparelled all in white,Fling back the critic's mud.And as he legs it through the skies,His pelt a sable hue,He sorrows sore to recognizeThe missiles that he threw.Orrin Goof"P.S. That verse isn't too bad ;)
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In spite of the claims made at the time of publication, this is actually one of those "incomplete" versions of the Dictionary, although it was the authorized version introduced by Bierce himself. The fact of the matter is that the entire lexicon was never published in his lifetime, so if you want a complete version, you have to sacrifice the authenticity of history and accept the editorial work of later scholars. This was, however, the version that was available when I was in middle school and first becoming interested in the Devil. I had rather hoped, in fact, that this would be an explicitly Satanic text in the more or less modern sense. It isn't that, it is something rather better. It is a discussion of society's foibles through the lens of one of America's greatest wits, Ambrose Bierce. Bierce used words as a means to criticize nearly all aspects of life (defined as "a spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay"). His model has been followed by many, usually with lesser success. One definition which is missing from this version is my personal favorite, that of Love: "The folly of thinking much of another before one knows anything of one's self."
—Michael
its not something one reads in a day, but a good book to have while browsing at your desk or to inject humour into our writings.His definition of Oblivion:The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. fame's eternal dumping ground. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters envy. A dormitory without an alarm clock.The author in 1913 set off for Mexico which was in the middle of a revolution & was never seen again...a must have along with the staid dictionary & thesaurus on your desk
—Aletha Tavares
What became The Devil's Dictionary was originally published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book. It consists of a collection of wryly cynical definitions of words, often accompanied by comic poems, which Bierce had contributed to a number of publications since 1869.If there is an underlying theme to the book it is that selfishness, stupidity and hypocrisy are the defining qualities of the human species, that men in positions of power are especially villainous and that women, particularly beautiful women, are vain, controlling and untrustworthy. Sometimes he is pointedly satirical, sometimes he falls back on easy cynicism or clever word-play, but his book is a rich source of humour. In a way, he's the literary equivalent of the hip stand-up comedian of today.I do have a feeling that some passages would have meant more to me if I were familiar with people to whom he refers. While much of the humour is timeless, I suspect that some of the bits which didn't make sense to me where a commentary on people and events of the time.I'm particularly fond of his take on religious issues, so here is a favourite definition :CHRISTIAN, n.One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
—Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler
