Heresies and Heretics
Memories from the Twentieth Century
Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Study Aids, ESL, Foreign Languages
| Author: | George Watson | ISBN: | 9780718841027 |
| Publisher: | The Lutterworth Press | Publication: | March 28, 2013 |
| Imprint: | The Lutterworth Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | George Watson |
| ISBN: | 9780718841027 |
| Publisher: | The Lutterworth Press |
| Publication: | March 28, 2013 |
| Imprint: | The Lutterworth Press |
| Language: | English |
In this enjoyably iconoclastic book, George Watson discusses some of the great heresies of the twentieth century, and the cultural heretics who espoused them, often with surprising results. Watson provides us with examples of 'true', original heretics, from Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who asserted that his study of the remote past had made a radical of him, rather than any influence of modernism, to others such as Douglas Adams, whom Watson knew as an undergraduate.
Watson forces us to question various long-cherished political and intellectual assumptions in his witty and conversational style. Is snobbery really such a bad thing? Have we ignored the links between socialism and genocide? He touches entertainingly upon subjects as diverse as literary theory (experimental fiction is often the last resort of those who have nothing to say), and the unoriginal conformism of teenage Marxists (incapable of actually reading Marx, as he is too boring).
This is a work which will delight any reader seeking a uniquely personal perspective on the culture, history, and personalities of the twentieth century.
In this enjoyably iconoclastic book, George Watson discusses some of the great heresies of the twentieth century, and the cultural heretics who espoused them, often with surprising results. Watson provides us with examples of 'true', original heretics, from Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who asserted that his study of the remote past had made a radical of him, rather than any influence of modernism, to others such as Douglas Adams, whom Watson knew as an undergraduate.
Watson forces us to question various long-cherished political and intellectual assumptions in his witty and conversational style. Is snobbery really such a bad thing? Have we ignored the links between socialism and genocide? He touches entertainingly upon subjects as diverse as literary theory (experimental fiction is often the last resort of those who have nothing to say), and the unoriginal conformism of teenage Marxists (incapable of actually reading Marx, as he is too boring).
This is a work which will delight any reader seeking a uniquely personal perspective on the culture, history, and personalities of the twentieth century.
