Hear, here!
on 7/7/11 11:45 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell at [log in to unmask] wrote:
> My two cents...
>
> I rather enjoy reading pieces written by folks unencumbered by scholarship
> or conventional wisdom about a topic. The fresh viewpoints can be
> thought-provoking, and this piece had some of that. But my enjoyment is
> negated when a writer is also unencumbered by a basic knowledge of the
> subject, and there was some biographical ignorance on display as well. This
> fellow would have done well to have read a good biography of Twain before
> tackling the autobiography. At the very least he would have enjoyed it more,
> and he would have written a better review.
>
> Two of his notions galled me, and they were presented early in the review,
> so this may have tempered my enthusiasm for the rest of what I he wrote. He
> said that great writers are not meant to write bad books, much less publish
> them. Is he kidding? Would he like a long list of bad novels by great
> novelists? Bad poems by great poets? Bad music by great composers? Can he
> name a great writer who wrote nothing but great books? His second dubious
> notion is that great writers are supposed to be all about ideas and not
> about material things. Again, is he kidding? Great writers like creature
> comforts, food, and sex. If they did not understand and live in the human
> condition themselves how could they ever be great writers? Can he name any
> skinny monks out there who became great writers?
>
> I wonder if this reviewer lives up to his own high standards and lives a
> pure life of the mind. If so, it did not result in a great review.
>
> I attribute any tone of crankiness to my youthful exposure to lead, mercury,
> and higher education.
>
> Kevin
> @
> Mac Donnell Rare Books
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>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Arianne" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 9:05 PM
> Subject: The COMPLETE article on Twain's autobiography by Michael Lewis.
>
>
>> This link provides all pages of the Lewis article in the New Republic.
>>
>>
>> www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/90498/mark-twain-autobiography?pa
>> ssthru=MDcwYzg0MDAxMjQ3YzZhNjNhYTNjNjM3YmZlMGFmZGI
>>
>>
>> Always interesting to hear various views.
>>
>> Arianne Laidlaw
>> --
>> Arianne Laidlaw A '58
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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--
Linwood Cottage, Sheffield
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didnšt
do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline. Sail away from the
safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-- Mark Twain
http://fch-senseandnonsense.blogspot.com/
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