Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations

"Suspended Judgments: Essays on Books and Sensations" by John Cowper Powys is a collection of essays exploring literature and the subjective experience of art, written in the early 20th century. The essays focus on the art of discrimination in understanding literature, indicating a deep reflective and philosophical approach to criticism and appreciation of artistic works. The opening of the work begins with a discussion on the concept of discrimination—how individuals engage uniquely with their experiences and form distinct interpretations shaped by their temperaments. Powys emphasizes the importance of personal engagement with art, suggesting that genuine appreciation arises from understanding our own emotions and predilections while navigating the complexities of life and literature. He highlights the paradox of connection through differentiation, implying that critiquing or enjoying art is an intimate journey into one's psyche, which leads to a greater appreciation of the artistic experience itself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

John Cowper Powys was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse in 1896 and a first novel in 1915, but gained success only with his novel Wolf Solent in 1929. He has been seen as a successor to Thomas Hardy, and Wolf Solent, A Glastonbury Romance (1932), Weymouth Sands (1934), and Maiden Castle (1936) have been called his Wessex novels. As with Hardy, landscape is important to his works. So is elemental philosophy in his characters' lives. In 1934 he published an autobiography. His itinerant lectures were a success in England and in 1905–1930 in the United States, where he wrote many of his novels and had several first published. He moved to Dorset, England, in 1934 with a US partner, Phyllis Playter. In 1935 they moved to Corwen, Merionethshire, Wales, where he set two novels, and in 1955 to Blaenau Ffestiniog, where he died in 1963.