Friday, February 29, 2008
Sullivan on Buckley
Andrew Sullivan joins me in feeling cautionary about Bill Buckley:
I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead - but am I the only person who found Buckley close to unreadable a lot of the time? I never read his fiction, but his nonfiction was packed the endless sentences, ridiculously long words, and meaning that sometimes took several reads to excavate. I don't know how many times I finished a Buckley column with the thought: what on earth was he trying to say? But then, my gold standard for prose style is Orwell. Never use a long word when a short one will do is not exactly advice Buckley followed.
Orwell is a high standard, but Andrew's right: When Orwell wrote, one got the feeling that his words were used in the service of something greater than himself; when Buckley wrote, one got the feeling that he wasn't sure there was anything greater than himself.
If an economy of words reflects a humility of self, then what is the suggestion of sesquipedalianism? ¶ 11:20 AM
I know we shouldn't speak ill of the dead - but am I the only person who found Buckley close to unreadable a lot of the time? I never read his fiction, but his nonfiction was packed the endless sentences, ridiculously long words, and meaning that sometimes took several reads to excavate. I don't know how many times I finished a Buckley column with the thought: what on earth was he trying to say? But then, my gold standard for prose style is Orwell. Never use a long word when a short one will do is not exactly advice Buckley followed.
Orwell is a high standard, but Andrew's right: When Orwell wrote, one got the feeling that his words were used in the service of something greater than himself; when Buckley wrote, one got the feeling that he wasn't sure there was anything greater than himself.
If an economy of words reflects a humility of self, then what is the suggestion of sesquipedalianism? ¶ 11:20 AM
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Richard,
There is a general tendency to speak well of someone who has recently died (or say nothing at all)--it is a little jarring to read comments like yours, perhaps because each of us naturally wishes for a merciful review of our life at its close. To say nothing of the pain these comments might inflict on someone hwo knew and cared for Bill Buckley. So lay off.
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There is a general tendency to speak well of someone who has recently died (or say nothing at all)--it is a little jarring to read comments like yours, perhaps because each of us naturally wishes for a merciful review of our life at its close. To say nothing of the pain these comments might inflict on someone hwo knew and cared for Bill Buckley. So lay off.
# posted by 
: March 1, 2008 5:43 PM
: March 1, 2008 5:43 PM<< Home
