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inflict a book

English translation: he decided a throw a second book of his own at the reading public

17:21 Feb 3, 2024
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Other / Literary Work
English term or phrase: inflict a book
Havng started reading The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper I came across this in the Author's introduction:
"As the only atonement in his power, he determined to inflict a second book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself."
I was perplexed by this unusual combination: inflict a book (in the meaning of forcing someone to experience something very unpleasant). Furthermore, I'm not sure about the second part of the sentence, i.e. "a ..book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only ON the world, but ON himself." Is it in the sense that the author doesn't want to be reproached by the world and by himself? OK, this should be regarded as a second question, I guess. Let's deal with 'inflict a book' first.
Sterk
Ukraine
Local time: 18:00
Selected answer:he decided a throw a second book of his own at the reading public
Explanation:
IOW after his first book was criticized, he refused to quit and decided to make himself again a "nuisance" and foist a second book on the reading public.

I don't think it's got to do with any kind of "self-perception" of low quality, I understand it more as

"you won't get rid of me, here is a second book of mine".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 days (2024-02-11 22:41:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------


As the only atonement in my power for leaving my answer unfinished, here is the second part:

from the AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION to "The Spy":


Many years later, circumstances, which it is unnecessary to relate, and of an entirely adventitious nature, induced the writer to publish a novel, which proved to be, what he little foresaw at the time, the first of a tolerably long series. The same adventitious causes which gave birth to the book determined its scene and its general character. ***The former was laid in a foreign country; and the latter embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners***. When this tale was published, ***it became matter of reproach among the author’s friends***, that he, ***an American in heart as in birth, should give to the world a work which aided perhaps, in some slight degree, to feed the imaginations of the young and unpracticed among his own countrymen, by pictures drawn from a state of society so different from that to which he belonged***. The writer, while he knew how much of what he had done was purely accidental, felt the reproach to be one that, in a measure, was just. As the only atonement in his power, he determined to inflict a second book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself. He chose patriotism for his theme; and to those who read this introduction and the book itself, it is scarcely necessary to add, that he took the hero of the anecdote just related as the best illustration of his subject.

IOW

The "sin" that was "atoned" by writing the second book ("The Spy") was that his first book ("Precaution") was "laid in a foreign country; and embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners ... by pictures drawn from a state of society so different from that to which he belonged."
To the point that, as his first book was published anonymously, "its author was thought by many to be an Englishman",

His "atonement" for what he has done wrong with his first book was to be to write a second book choosing a subject to which none of these criticisms could be levied, not by anyone in the word, nor by the author himself. (="whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself.")

Which is more or less what's been already said in the introduction about the author of the book (in the version available on www.gutenberg.org ):

“I believe I could write a better story myself!” With these words, since become famous, James Fenimore Cooper laid aside the English novel which he was reading aloud to his wife. A few days later he submitted several pages of manuscript for her approval, and then settled down to the task of making good his boast. In November, 1820, he gave the public a novel in two volumes, entitled Precaution. But it was published anonymously, and dealt with English society in so much the same way as the average British novel of the time that its author was thought by many to be an Englishman. It had no originality and no real merit of any kind. Yet it was the means of inciting Cooper to another attempt. And this second novel made him famous.
When Precaution appeared, some of Cooper’s friends protested against his weak dependence on British models. Their arguments stirred his patriotism, and he determined to write another novel, using thoroughly American material.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9845/9845-h/9845-h.htm
Selected response from:

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:00
Grading comment
Thank you Daryo. Yes, there were some better suggestions, but all they haven't gone any further than comments and discussions. So I decided to inflict the points on you Daryo. If not for the best suggested answer, then for bravery.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 -2he decided a throw a second book of his own at the reading public
Daryo


Discussion entries: 15





  

Answers


2 days 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -2
he determined to inflict a second book
he decided a throw a second book of his own at the reading public


Explanation:
IOW after his first book was criticized, he refused to quit and decided to make himself again a "nuisance" and foist a second book on the reading public.

I don't think it's got to do with any kind of "self-perception" of low quality, I understand it more as

"you won't get rid of me, here is a second book of mine".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 days (2024-02-11 22:41:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------


As the only atonement in my power for leaving my answer unfinished, here is the second part:

from the AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION to "The Spy":


Many years later, circumstances, which it is unnecessary to relate, and of an entirely adventitious nature, induced the writer to publish a novel, which proved to be, what he little foresaw at the time, the first of a tolerably long series. The same adventitious causes which gave birth to the book determined its scene and its general character. ***The former was laid in a foreign country; and the latter embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners***. When this tale was published, ***it became matter of reproach among the author’s friends***, that he, ***an American in heart as in birth, should give to the world a work which aided perhaps, in some slight degree, to feed the imaginations of the young and unpracticed among his own countrymen, by pictures drawn from a state of society so different from that to which he belonged***. The writer, while he knew how much of what he had done was purely accidental, felt the reproach to be one that, in a measure, was just. As the only atonement in his power, he determined to inflict a second book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself. He chose patriotism for his theme; and to those who read this introduction and the book itself, it is scarcely necessary to add, that he took the hero of the anecdote just related as the best illustration of his subject.

IOW

The "sin" that was "atoned" by writing the second book ("The Spy") was that his first book ("Precaution") was "laid in a foreign country; and embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners ... by pictures drawn from a state of society so different from that to which he belonged."
To the point that, as his first book was published anonymously, "its author was thought by many to be an Englishman",

His "atonement" for what he has done wrong with his first book was to be to write a second book choosing a subject to which none of these criticisms could be levied, not by anyone in the word, nor by the author himself. (="whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself.")

Which is more or less what's been already said in the introduction about the author of the book (in the version available on www.gutenberg.org ):

“I believe I could write a better story myself!” With these words, since become famous, James Fenimore Cooper laid aside the English novel which he was reading aloud to his wife. A few days later he submitted several pages of manuscript for her approval, and then settled down to the task of making good his boast. In November, 1820, he gave the public a novel in two volumes, entitled Precaution. But it was published anonymously, and dealt with English society in so much the same way as the average British novel of the time that its author was thought by many to be an Englishman. It had no originality and no real merit of any kind. Yet it was the means of inciting Cooper to another attempt. And this second novel made him famous.
When Precaution appeared, some of Cooper’s friends protested against his weak dependence on British models. Their arguments stirred his patriotism, and he determined to write another novel, using thoroughly American material.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9845/9845-h/9845-h.htm


Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:00
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
Thank you Daryo. Yes, there were some better suggestions, but all they haven't gone any further than comments and discussions. So I decided to inflict the points on you Daryo. If not for the best suggested answer, then for bravery.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  philgoddard: This is incorrect and ungrammatical. And his first book wasn't criticised - you repeated Robert's correct assertion in the discussion entries that the writer is being ironic and self-deprecating.
6 hrs
  -> His first book WAS criticized for being "unamerican" (not in the McCarthy's sense, but for being "alien" to the real-life experience of an average American) - **easy to check** // BTW ever thought of asking yourself what this "atonement" could be about?
disagree  Yvonne Gallagher: "throw" does not mean "inflict". Robert already explained this. Just a "self-disparaging" humorous comment
15 hrs
  -> Semantics ... More important: "Just a 'self-disparaging' humorous comment" is just a small part in explaining the intended meaning of the whole sentence. In my SOP words are only of interest as parts of what a whole sentence is supposed to mean.
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