Forget British. Define English. The perennial ex-pat and honorary Yank
Christopher Hitchens may not be the best Englishman to define it - though his embarrassingly reactionary brother
Peter is even less suited - but at least he has a go. For everyone else in the world, there are the Scottish, the Welsh, even the Northern Irish - all strong nationalities in their own right, each one older and more culturally solid than the slightly French, slightly German and slightly Dutch English. So why persist, in this post-imperialist day and age, in the myth of the Brit? If
it is a myth. Americans, whether from the U.S. or Canada, certainly continue to buy into it. Or is it, for the rest of the world, too dangerous for the English - with devolution raging - to find their own, muddied identity? Think of those football hooligans and their grotesque politics, St.George face-masks and flags. (
Via Arts And Letters Daily.)
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Oct 17, 2003 -
40 comments
Stalin, Hitler, Guilt, Finger-Pointing And Friendship: Timothy Garton-Ash reviews, a trifle superciliously but fairly, a very lively and soul-searching polemic between two consummate, consuming and irresistible writers,
Martin Amis and
Christopher Hitchens - who also happen to be old friends. Funnily enough, I'd suggest reading Hitchens's review in
the Atlantic Monthly first; then the
three [
1] extracts
from [
2] Amis's
book [
3] and,
finally, Hitchens's reply to them. All in all, it's that rare thing: a long, juicy, well-written and passionately argued polemic with plenty of insights into how generations come to terms with the honest indiscretions and oversights of their youth. Oh and there's a lot about communism, nazism, totalitarianism and the Sixties too...
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Sep 5, 2002 -
15 comments
The Latest Salvo From Gore Vidal, The Last Of The Great Wits: He's a tremendous snob, infuriatingly opinionated and sets out to upset all and sundry, left, right and centre. But
Gore Vidal is still the meanest, fastest wit in the West.
Harry Kloman runs a magnificent
fan site, bursting with goodies and verbal violence which is an education in itself. Or, for a contrarian view, check out rival wit John Simon's
demolition job. But come on - can
anyone compete with the Master? Christopher Hitchens? Fran Lebowitz? James Woolcott? Clive James? I think not.
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Apr 24, 2002 -
29 comments
