July 1, 1949
The Achievement of Hermann Broch¹
Herman Broch belongs in that tradition of great 20th Century novelists who have transformed, almost beyond recognition, one of the classic art-forms of the 19th Century. The modern novel no […]
July 1, 1949
Shakespeare’s Amazing Words
Mr. Schiller’s article in The Kenyon Review (Winter 1949) may be taken as a search for a common denominator for the enjoyment of some of “Shakespeare’s amazing words.” Even though […]
July 1, 1949
Johnson on the Metaphysicals
When we feel disposed to dismiss Johnson’s views on the views Metaphysical poets as prejudice, we ought to consider whether we are not opposing one prejudice with another, of another […]
July 1, 1949
The Poetry of Allen Tate¹
I should like to propose two revisions of the customary valuation put upon the poetry of Allen Tate. First, it has become increasingly evident with each new work that Mr. […]
July 1, 1949
Movie Letter: “Hamlet” and Documentary
With Joan of Arc as ostentatious a stuffed spectacle as film has ever had, and Olivier’s Hamlet a virtual success only through sheer weight of the cultural tradition, the seismographs […]
July 1, 1949
Myth, Ritual, and Nonsense
“Myth” is the new intellectual fashion, apparently, and judging by the recent books on the subject, there is more than one way to skin a myth. Joseph Campbell’s The Hero […]
July 1, 1949
Theatre Letter
Whenever the weakness of the American theatre in our time is deplored, the grasping commercialism of the Broadway producer is always cited as the final and ultimate cause of our […]
July 1, 1949
The Faust of Georges Bernanos
Augurs and understood relations have By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth The secretest man of blood. — Shakespeare, Macbeth. Do you believe in hell, Pernichon?” asked M. Guérou, […]
July 1, 1949
The Reading of a Lyric Poem
What I tell you three times is true. —Old Song. He who finds out a new pleasure is one of the most useful members of society. —Goldsmith. This essay does […]
April 1, 1949
The Good Ford
Along with G. P. R. James and Mrs. Oliphant, we have forgotten Ford Madox Ford. Some middle-aged book reader might remember that he collaborated with Joseph Conrad, changed his name […]
April 1, 1949
Chekhov as Playwright (Reconsiderations, No. XI)
The American theatre finds it possible to get along without the services of most of the best playwrights. Aeschylus, Lope de Vega, Racine, Moliere, Schiller, Strindberg—one could prolong indefinitely the […]
April 1, 1949
The Ductile Universe of Henri Michaux
Reading Michaux makes one uncomfortable. The world of his poems bears some relation to that of everyday, but it is hard to determine what. If we try to reassure ourselves […]