The first edition of Adrian Marino's Introduction to Literary Criticism appeared in 1968, amid the polemics and controversies about criticism between 1965-1968 when, taking advantage of a relative political relaxation in the midst of totalitarianism, the intellectuals of the time re-evaluated the status and methodology of literary criticism. But, although it had as its starting point the problematic aspects of the criticism of the 60s, Adrian Marino's broad synthesis goes beyond this contextual situation and becomes a book of personal meditation on literature and how to practice the critical act. The approach surprises with the abundance of critical references and the power of conceptualization of intellectual operations that are difficult to dissociate in general (discovery of structure, exploration of meanings, cultivation of aesthetic sensibility, rationalization of aesthetic sensibility, etc.). At the same time, the book is not only an introduction to literary criticism as conceived by Adrian Marino, but also a prelude to his future research in the direction of criticism of literary ideas. Maria Dinu
