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One of the most memorable book pans of the last several years was Anne Applebaum's review of Nicholson Baker's Human Smoke, that coy Wikipedia entry that attempted to explain the narcissism of the tiny difference between the Allied and Axis powers in World War II. Baker's method was to assemble a collection of anecdotes and qutotations from both sides, divorce them from context and any sense of proportion, and timestamp them as if with gnostic certitude in the law of moral equivalence. Narrative didn't enter into it, and so two juxtaposed parlor comments would have the credulous reader coming away thinking that Franklin Roosevelt was little more than a chair-bound Adolph Eichmann. By way of offering her own context for the sorry cultural atmosphere that could produce such a flimsy, ahistorical work of history, Applebaum opened with a remark once made by my former employer: by James Bowman
In Laurent Cantet’s great film, La Classe, which came out in America last spring, the hapless inner-city school teacher played by François Bégaudeau — who also wrote the book on which the film was based — attempted to ingratiate himself with a class of naughty teenagers, who are contemptuous of his authority, by admitting that no one but a snob would ever use the subjunctive mood nowadays. Whereupon, the kids pretend not to know what a "snob" is! It’s a reminder of the extent to which grammar, manners, authority and social cohesion go together but also of the impoverishment of intellectual life that results when, for the sake of egalitarianism, we dumb down the usable language and so voluntarily deprive ourselves of the means of thinking, or understanding, a whole mood’s worth of thoughts. by Roger Kimball | from Pajamas Media
My sunny thoughts about the once-again great states of New Jersey (welcome, Governor Christie!) and Virginia (ditto, Governor McDonnell!) are not displaced by the (to me) disappointing and (to everyone) surprising news that Doug Hoffman lost to Bill Owens in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. There has been a great deal of hand wringing and pundit-izing [...] An exercise course for the eye by James Panero
In the appreciation of art, they say the eye is like a muscle. It needs training and regular workouts. Unfortunately, you could pass through an entire academic study of art history and never have the chance to look at great work up close. No wonder academia is besotted with art theory. With only slides and reproductions, the eye becomes weak and the head takes over. The artist and friend of The New Criterion Tom Goldenberg is someone who has overcome this deficiency. He has developed his own art through a close study of drawings through history. Now he is offering a course to bring this study to others. It is my pleasure to endorse it and bring it to the attention of all. And I would be remiss if I did not, because I join the course whenever possible and have taken a great deal away from it already. “The Berlin Wall: 20 years after”
The Editors are proud to present:
“The Berlin Wall: 20 years after” with contributions from Henry A. Kissinger, Roger Kimball, Donald Kagan, Jonathan Brent, and Anthony Daniels In our November 2009 issue, The New Criterion will mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall—November 9, 1989—with a set of essays that explore the past and the present of the Cold War and the ultimate triumph of liberty over tyranny. Mr. Brent, Mr. Kagan, and Mr. Kimball will be available for radio and television interviews to comment on the historic occasion. Live links to the complete articles are available below: The Pursuit of Wisdom in the Age of the Internet by James Bowman
The following was a talk delivered by me at the fall regional meeting of the Philadelphia Society in Indianapolis on October 24, 2009. You might not know it to look at me, but I used to be pretty smart. In fact, if it doesn’t sound too immodest, I could even say that I was known for being smart, which is better than actually being smart. Everybody seemed to know how smart I was. People I had never met before somehow knew it on saying hello. My reputation for braininess had preceded me, I know not how. I remember once I went for a job interview where, out of the blue, I was asked if I had ever met anyone more intelligent than I. Stunned by such a stupid question, I actually tried to answer it. That’s how smart I was. In other words, not very. But if, today, I would know better than to try to answer a question like that, it is nevertheless true that I was in other ways quite a lot brighter then than I am now. Now, I can almost feel my brainpower diminishing by the day. People no longer greet me with that slightly intimidated look that is the reward — if you can call it a reward — of those with a reputation, however undeserved, for intelligence. by James Bowman
Behind the Vatican’s stunning démarche towards the Anglican communion, at least according to Damian Thompson in today’s Daily Telegraph,there are some interesting internal Catholic politics. Mr Thompson points us towards the fact that the step was taken by Pope Benedict in the absence of any consultation with the English Catholic bishops. Why? Because they tend to be as liberal as their Anglican counterparts, if not more so. National Sovereignty, Climate Mysticism, and You by Roger Kimball | from Pajamas Media
Just in case your survey of the world scene has left you with a residue of cheerfulness, here is a video of a talk given by Lord Christopher Monckton at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota last week that should complete your gloom. The ostensible subject was the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Treaty, scheduled to take [...] by James Bowman
You just knew that it was all about fame, as soon as that poor little boy — already saddled by his parents with the ridiculous name, "Falcon" — said to his father on national television, "You guys said we did this for the show." Sure enough, Robert Thomas, a former collaborator of the boy’s father, Richard Heene on a proposal for a TV "reality" show, soon told Gawker.com that the man was "obsessed with becoming famous." Mr Heene and his wife, Mayumi, had already appeared on the reality TV show "Wife Swap," and he was said to have had in development with Mr Thomas a new show that he thought of as being "MythBusters-meets-mad scientist — except that he was no kind of scientist, mad or otherwise." The idea was to test scientific theories for the cameras, but Mr Heene, whose education stopped at high school, appears to have no scientific qualifications. |
About ArmaVirumque ( AHR-mah wih-ROOM-kweh) In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age.
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EventsNovember 09, 2009 YOUNG FRIENDS: Tour of an important contemporary art collection November 24, 2009 OPEN EVENT: Laura Jacobs reading December 02, 2009 Friends Event: The Swallow Anthology Reading More events > |
