by
James Wood
64
Edmund Wilson
11
terms
1
notes
exegesis
(en)
(from the Greek for "to lead out") a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, particularly a religious text
67
his own prose, built of solid blocks of exegesis and description
notable
9 years ago
his own prose, built of solid blocks of exegesis and description
notable
9 years ago
panoptic
(en)
(adjective) being or presenting a comprehensive or panoramic view
67
synoptic
(en)
(adjective) affording a general view of a whole / (adjective) manifesting or characterized by comprehensiveness or breadth of view / (adjective) presenting or taking the same or common view
69
equanimity
(en)
calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation
73
he rather strangely praised Henry James for 'his classical equanimity [...]'
on Edmund Wilson
notable
9 years ago
he rather strangely praised Henry James for 'his classical equanimity [...]'
on Edmund Wilson
notable
9 years ago
Stéphane Mallarmé
(en)
a French symbolic poet and critic in the 19th century
74
this would enable him to trace a line from the aestheticism of Mallarmé and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam to Proust
notable
9 years ago
this would enable him to trace a line from the aestheticism of Mallarmé and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam to Proust
notable
9 years ago
approbatory
(en)
(noun) proof / (noun) an act of approving formally or officially / (noun) commendation, praise
74
I am guilty of its every stricture and I take an extraordinary delight in its considered approbation
quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald
notable
9 years ago
I am guilty of its every stricture and I take an extraordinary delight in its considered approbation
quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald
notable
9 years ago
77
Wilson could see that it was psychologically credulous of Marx to believe that when the proletariat took over it would simply be on its best behaviour. What was the evidence for this? Why would the worker not want what the capitalist plutocrat had? [...]
[...]
But Rousseau's speculative theology of the fall of man only forces the very question that Wilson cannot face in Marx. If man was once good, in his state of nature, and is now bad, i his state of society, how exactly did he begin to corrupt. Did he become bad because human nature is corrupt, or because society corrupted his goodness? If the latter, what is the hope for a utopian restoration of man? How do we get back--or back and forward at once--to the ideal state of man? Likewise, did the revolution of 1917 go bad because corrupt huma nature cannot be trusted with revolutionary despotism, or because violent revolution is at its heart a corrupt idea? And if the answer to either question is yes, the question fudged by Rousseau returns: how do we reach utopia ; how do we--in Rousseau's terms--restore what has been lost?
on To The Finland Station, which seems very much worth reading
Wilson could see that it was psychologically credulous of Marx to believe that when the proletariat took over it would simply be on its best behaviour. What was the evidence for this? Why would the worker not want what the capitalist plutocrat had? [...]
[...]
But Rousseau's speculative theology of the fall of man only forces the very question that Wilson cannot face in Marx. If man was once good, in his state of nature, and is now bad, i his state of society, how exactly did he begin to corrupt. Did he become bad because human nature is corrupt, or because society corrupted his goodness? If the latter, what is the hope for a utopian restoration of man? How do we get back--or back and forward at once--to the ideal state of man? Likewise, did the revolution of 1917 go bad because corrupt huma nature cannot be trusted with revolutionary despotism, or because violent revolution is at its heart a corrupt idea? And if the answer to either question is yes, the question fudged by Rousseau returns: how do we reach utopia ; how do we--in Rousseau's terms--restore what has been lost?
on To The Finland Station, which seems very much worth reading
dappled
(en)
(adjective) marked with small spots or patches contrasting with the background
80
leave them in a dapple of ambiguity rather than drag them out into any prematurely decisive light of judgment
beautiful
notable
9 years ago
leave them in a dapple of ambiguity rather than drag them out into any prematurely decisive light of judgment
beautiful
notable
9 years ago
expiate
(en)
atone for (guilt or sin)
80
pugilistic
(en)
(noun) a fancy word for boxer
82
this pugilistic confidence is surely misplaced
never really knew what this word meant even though I've definitely seen it before
uncertain
9 years ago
this pugilistic confidence is surely misplaced
never really knew what this word meant even though I've definitely seen it before
uncertain
9 years ago
excoriating
(en)
(verb) to wear off the skin of; abrade / (verb) to censure scathingly
83
imbricated
(en)
arranged (scales, sepals, plates, etc.) so that they overlap like roof tiles
87
Lionel Trilling imbricates ideas and aesthetics with greater skill
notable
9 years ago
Lionel Trilling imbricates ideas and aesthetics with greater skill
notable
9 years ago