The Pleasures of the Imagination as conceived by Joseph Addison (1672 - 1819)

"Gratian (1601 - 1658, Spanish critic & moralist) very often recommends 'fine taste', as the utmost perfection of an accomplished man." 

Thus Addison begins his series of celebrated essays entitled "The Pleasures of the Imagination" in his journal, "The Spectator". Since now many may not have  heard of Addison, let alone read him, it is proposed to give a gist of these essays, which nowadays may be discussed under "Aesthetics."

He divides these pleasures under the following headings:

Primary Pleasures, i.e., sensory pleasures, mainly sight. He correctly surmises that once these sights are observed, the faculty of  imagination may provide even a man in prison to entertain himself with scenes & landscapes more beautiful than found in Nature. He also eulogises architecture of noble buildings like the Pyramids & The Great Wall of China as providing awe.

Secondary Pleasures of the imagination are provided by Literature, Sculpture, Painting & Music. Homer, Virgil, Ovid & Milton among the Poets provide pleasures greater than words wider than those joined to sight. Fantasy, created entirely by the writer is another genre. Imagination contrasted with Understanding is cultivated by the study of History & Science.

To conclude, The Pleasures of the Imagination are not so gross as those of the senses, nor so refined as those of the Understanding. A man of Imagination is let into a great many pleasures that the common people are not capable of receiving.

Welcome to abridged books

Many may consider it a sacrilege to abridge  books, implying an irreverent attitude towards the authors of the works. But the other side of the coin is that these books mostly written at an earlier, more leisurely time, were meant to be read when there were not many other diversions. Also more importantly they dealt with issues relevant to their times & which appear dated now. Two examples being the extensive analysis of military strategy in Tolstoy's "War & Peace" & the endless philosophical discussions in Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain." Also the non-musical content of Romain Rolland's multi-volume "John Christopher."

When one reads the uncut "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame, one instantly notices the extraneousness of the chapters "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" & "Wayfarers All." Thankfully these are excised in Inga Moore's impressionistically illustrated edition.

This becomes even more necessary in non-fiction books which are part of the literary canon like Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" & Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations." Though they were written for the non-specialist reader, they are forbidding enough to the modern reader. So the illustrated Young Reader's edition of Darwin & the Capstone edition of Adam Smith will attract readers, who might not have touched the originals at all. This, to quote from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", "Is a consummation devoutly to be wished."

Is Kannada "The Ugliest Language"?

Regarding the recent controversy, it may be a subjective & prejudiced opinion. But it can be proved that Kannada can express more shades of meaning & clear family relationships than even the universal language, English.

For example for the single English word "came", there are at least three Kannada words with different shades of meaning, "banda", "bandu bitta" & "bande bitta." For the second & third words, there are no suitable English words.

As far as family relationships are concerned, (as these are stronger in India than western countries), the profusion is glaring. In blood relations, Kannada has "Anna" & "Thamma" for the single English "Brother." Similarly "Akka" & "Thangi" for the single "Sister." For the single English "Uncle", there are "Doddappa", "Chikkappa" & "Sodaramava." Similarly for "Aunt", "Doddamma", Chikkamma", & "Sodaratthe."

As far as relationships by marriage are concerned, English, pitifully takes recourse to "law", by adding "in-law" to existing words.

Whereas in Kannada, for "brother-in-law", four words are present, "Bhava", "Myduna", "Bhava-myduna" & "Shadduka." Similarly for "sister-in-law", there are "Aththige", "Nadini" & "Oragiththi." For "Father-in-law" & "Mother-in-law", the reference to law is omitted by using "Mava" & "Aththe."

Having such linguistic riches at our disposal, it is pathetic to see the younger generation use the cramped English words rather than the semantically correct words in their resplendent mother-tongue.