There are two kinds of taste in the appreciation of imaginative literature: the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- James identifies two main ways readers appreciate literature: through surprise or through recognizing shared experiences.
- In plain terms
- People enjoy books either because they are surprised or because they recognize themselves.
- What can you take from it?
- Understand what you seek in literature.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Do you prefer surprise or recognition in stories?
- What book made you feel seen?
Another view
Readers often enjoy a mix of both emotions.
More from Henry James
Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.
Permalink to quote #20 A tradition is kept alive only by something being added to it.
Permalink to quote #22 I hold any writer sufficiently justified who is himself in love with his theme.
Permalink to quote #19
Related quotes
They liked the book the better the more it made them cry.
Oliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith quote #77 No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
Robert FrostRobert Frost quote #107 My own experience in reading Dickens...is to be bounced between violent admiration and violent distaste almost every couple of paragraphs, and this is too unco…
Charles DickensCharles Dickens quote #159