reading it:n—Is Mr. Hammer a decent and wellintentionednAmerican, or is he anninfluential rat to whom the notionnof allegiance to moral principlenis meaningless?n—Whom does Mr. Hammer serve:nAmerica, the communists or justnhimself?nMany of Mr. Hammer’s supporters,nadmirers or analysts might conclude,nwith skeptical sagacity, that these questionsnare beside the point, that life isnruled by ambivalence, that a true citizennof...

any strategic designs on the PersiannGulf region, and that he would ordernthe withdrawal of some Soviet unitsnin Afghanistan as soon as the armsntraffic across the Pakistan border tonAfghan rebels was ended. (Emphasisnadded)nIn essence, this says that the solutionnin Afghanistan of which Mr. Hammernwould be fond, which he would considernhis contribution to world peace,nwould be for...

God keep you safe from fire and steel and contemporarynliterature. …n— Leon BloynThe old aphorism that one picture is worth a thousandnwords sometimes reaches a level of startling profundity. Anphotographer at the Jewish Museum’s Robert Rauschenbergnretrospective in 1963 captured a scene that transforms thenaphorism into manifest truth. An elegantly coiffured womannin an exquisite mink coat...

-v: ‘p-nown way will relegate himself to obscurity; the literary tastenmakers are too smart to ignore a Saul Bellow—besides, evennthe daftest of critics occasionally snares a stray insight.nThe real problems lie elsewhere. The Liberal Culture ignoresnor derides writers of exceptional talent who cannot commandnthe recognition that a Bellow does. Andrew Lytle, for example,nhas, over the...

OPINIONS & VIEWSnThings He Believed InnThe Eisenhower Diaries; Edited bynRobert H. Ferrell; W. W. Norton &nCo.; New York.nby Allan C. CarlsonnAcademicians of any orthodox persuasionnhave always been uncomfortablenwith the legacy of Dwight Eisenhower.nWhen his second Presidentialnterm came to an end in early 1961, theynjoyfully dismissed him as an intellectualnlightweight, a mere West Point graduate,nan aging...

“My entire life has been given to thisnone thing, my country and my profession.”nTwelve years later, he cited “mynfamily” and “America” as “the only realnpassions of my life.” Countless referencesnto “duty” and “responsibility” fillnthe diaries.nJrrior to the end of World War II,nit is true, Eisenhower evidences no wellthought-outnor articulated political philosophy.nBy early 1953, though, he...

tempt to dismantle the New Deal, butnneither did he substantially add to it;nhe was later appalled by the Great Societynexperiments of the Johnson administration.nIn the last published diarynentry, dated March 1967, Ike describednRichard Nixon as “one of the ablest men”nhe knew, a man for whom he held “greatnaffection.”nJiisenhower presided over The AmericannDecade, an era characterized...

historical role of Tosca, the individualnacting alone, will in the future be playednby the discontented masses in theirngreat number.nllowever foolish and irresponsible,nRyan speaks for a sizable contingent ofnAmerican intellectuals whose passionnfor equality is, in Tocqueville’s taemorablenwords, “ardent, insatiable, eternal,nand invincible.” It is this passion thatndetermines the contradictory charaaernof so much of their writing. Proponentsnof “sharing”...

what would it mean to be liked by thenAmerican humorist? What would thenwords “I love you” mean if he who spokenthem truly loved everyone equally? Hownshould we ever know w-hat it means tonsing well if some of us, Pavarotti andnFreni for instance, did not sound veryndifferent than others? If every singernpossessed precisely the same talent,...

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style can be an effective one, providednthe author is skilled enough to evoke ‘nthe proper emotion. But Irving is nonThomas Maiiory. For all the destructionnand mutilation, grief does not existnhere.nWhen John’s grandfather, Iowa Bob,ndies in his arms of fright (second onlynto suicide as the most common causenof death in this novel), John silentlyneulogizes him: “as...

formed a striking contrast with the situationnthirty years before,” as thoughnthe 1950’s were one of the sterlingnperiods of Western -history. In fact,neven then some perceptive persons foresawnsome of the disasters that havenrecently come to pass. Although Handlinnrecognizes that the consensus behindnthese policies was mu^h morenfragile than it seemed, he still regardsnthe Truman policies as successful,...

These qualities, whether good or bad,ndon’t really explain our present discontents.nTo refine his analysis of thesenphenomena he should read the Chroniclesnof Culture editorials.nMore importantly, our present socialnsituation cannot accurately be describednas one of permissiveness, despite thenfondness of many conservatives for thisnsuperficial notion. It is true that manynnormal aspects of traditional social disciplinenare breaking down. Rising...

SUPPORT THEnPOLISH POPEnThat’s what the New Oxford Review isnabout. We strongly support the PolishnPope’s valiant efforts to protect Polandnfrom the Soviet imperialists and to enhancensocial justice, both in Poland andnthroughout the world. Moreover, we unabashedlynchampion the Pope in his’nstruggle to save Christian orthodoxy fromnHans Kung and all the other questionablentheologians who have had a field...

Thomas Jefferson: ConservativenDumas Malone: The Sage of Monticellon(Volume Six of Jefferson andnHis Time); Little, Brown & Co.;nBoston.nby Clyde WilsonnIn 1809 Thomas Jefferson yieldednup the Presidency and crossed into Virginia.nIn the 17 active years remainingnto him he never left it. The first volumenof Malone’s masterpiece, published inn1948, -was Jefferson the Virginian. Thensixth and last is The...

Jefferson the agrarian liberal. But unfortunatelynwhat Parrington discoverednwas an imaginary combination ofnFrench philosophe and midwesternnpopulist, not the planter of AlbemarlenCounty. Parrington, Claude Bowers andna host of other worthies soon turnednJefferson into the patron saint of Wilsonism,nthe New Deal and what currentlynpasses for liberalism.nThus, by a strange piling-up ofnironies, the intellectual descendants ofnJefferson’s opponents converted himninto...

meant, example. He gives no comfortnto those who want to impose democracynon others, but much comfort to thosenwho want to defend American democracynfrom any and all enemies. Jefferson,nit is true, mistrusted the clergy. In thisnrespect he was typical of his generation.nBut Jefferson the citizen, as opposed tonJefferson the philosopher, lived withinnthe church. Religion and piety...

Most Businessmen Havena Fairly Accurate Readingnof Their Competition.nHow About Their Opposition?nThe magazines and activist groupsnwhich mold and manipulate publicn; opinion toward anticapitalist goals arennow big business. Their impact inn’ recent years has grown more potent throughna network of multinational support groups. Thenlast election has given this activity a vibrant new impetus,nwith funds and memberships on...

learning from experience. And as Barzunnemphasizes, language, especially,nthe mother tongue, more than any othernsubject, “must be learned close to itsnliving source.” Indeed the principle ofnproximity is so crucial for Barzun thatndespite its excesses he clearly recognizesnthe value of progressive education innthis country: “… if it has done nothingnelse, it should be honored and givennthanks for...

artistic forms that are utterly unlike,nand perhaps at first repellent to thenbeholder, shatters the provincial assumptionsnwhich nearly all of us inherit—namely,nthat our ways ofnspeaking, singing, and feeling are the .nonly really human ways, all othersnbeing outlandish and probably meaningless.nIn light of such vital connections,nevery teacher of literacy needs to benviewed as a teacher of the...

…. It is the Utopian outicxik andnquite as obscurantist as its formernopposite. Even apart from the bandwagonneffect and the regrets and remorsenafter the defeat of foolish expectations,n. it has the grave defectnof making one impatient with Difficulty.nBy difficulty. I mean the permanentnobstacles to the good lifenand the good society. Few of themnare problems in the...

Roman Noir in Fiction and LifenRichard Layman: Shadow Man, ThenLife of Dashiell Hatnmett; HarcourtnBrace Jovanovich; New York.nby Keith BowernOy one definition, the life of DashiellnHammett could be said to have been anrousing success: any man who lives tonthe age of 67 and leaves owing the IRSn$163,286.46 plus interest need notnworry about not having had some...

mett’s works, Layman says, “More of ten,nsexuality in Hammett’s work is distortedornperverted and represents the extentnto which a character has departed from anromantic ideal of man’s capacity for uncorruptedlove.”Hammett’snpersonal lifenwas an anthem to corrupted love, whichnLayman explains by noting the long linenof cads in Hammett’s family. Where donwe find a restorative concern for romanticnideals in...

mere silence. He kept typewritersnaround the place just to remind himselfnthat he had been a writer. Except fornthe handmaiden work he did on Hell;nman’s plays and the occasional coursenon fiction writing at the Marxist JeffersonnSchool of Social Science, DashiellnHammett was a classic burnout. But henwas still a Marxist. Hammett never effusednthe sort of Soviet communism...

The Forgotten Charms of HypocrisynLisa Alther: Original Sins; Alfred A.nKnopf; New York.nby Becki KlutenIt would be difficult to imagine anbetter time to be a child than duringnthe 1950’s. The view from a small townnwas that of a placid, cheerful country.nChildren could wander at will withoutnfear of molestation, doors were seldomnlocked, neighbors chatted languidly onnfront porches....

tem of benevolent hypocrisy—mostnoften referred to as good manners—nwhat did we have left? We found crude-,nness, boorishness and, in too many instances,nviolence and savagery. ThatnMs. Alther thoroughly approves of thisnshift is best illustrated in the contrastnbetween the militant Donny and hisnlong-suffering Aunt Jemima-ish grandmother,nwho, like all the characters, arencrude stereotypes.nFortunately we, that is Americannsociety, seem...

which reconstructions the evidence allowsnand which it rules out.nIXere we (scientists) apparently partncompany with such writers as MarilynnFrench, even though her approach isnempirical and inductive (so she tells us).nThis book is a study of the gendernprinciples as I see them existing innShakespeare’s work. I did not bringnmy theory to the work; rather, thenwork of Shakespeare,...

quick look in Dissertation AbstractsnInternational confirmed my hunch.nTrue Love, etc., had been a 1977 dissertationnat Rochester before being rewarmed,nwith abundant foundation support,nfor serving again in 1980.nxVlthough I found Leach’s worknmostly just boring, occasional Aspects ofnit were downright silly. One of thesenwas the apparently central idea that .nmuch of the progressivism to be seennin American culture...

the book, is subliminal and implicitnrather than open and expressed. What isnexpressed is a persistent disdain fornwhat might be called Americana.nJ. o say that this sort of writing doesna disservice to the American societynand culture is to understate the case.nSinclair Lewis long ago dealt somensavage blows to American businessmenngion on earth, no place too barren...

Evaluating symbolic novels and realisticnnovels is largely a case of the proverbialnapples vs. oranges; the focus,nthe technique, the style and the powernof the two forms are vastly different.nThe symbolic novel is often largelynimagistic and impressionistic—a pointillismnof words and recurring njotifs designednto capture the reader’s attentionnand to engage him in the mysteries ofnunraveling complex themes and...

opera singer, her fortuitous secondnmarriage to an older man with a young.nson, and brings us into the climacticnevent of the novel—Lisa’s incarcerationnin a nazi concentration camp and herndeath and that of her son. The novel’snnarrative technique shifts again in thenfinal section, this time giving us fantasynand imagism interwoven into Lisa’snreturn to the white hotel, her...

Standing on PrinciplenJames Webb: A Sense of Honor;nPrentice-Hall; Englewood Cliffs,nNew Jersey.nby Robert C. SteensmanWhen the definitive history of thenVietnam War is eventually written, itnwill probably bear little resemblance tonthe melange of half-truths and propagandanfoisted upon the American publicnby George McGovern—who called thenwar “a blot upon American history” andncompared the American effort there tonHitler’s holocaust against...

his mother’s apron strings; Ted Lenahan,na Marine captain, gravely woundednin Vietnam, who now serves as a companynofficer at the Academy; and ProfessornJonathan Thad, a young and selfrighteousncivilian instructor at thenAcademy who can recite the Bill ofnRights but knows nothing of its significancenfor human beings and the world innwhich they live.nFogarty takes it upon himself to...

on the other. Caught in the middle arenDean and Admiral Kraft. Dean sticksnwith it and wins; Kraft, though fullynappreciating the significance of Dean’snexperience, must sadly yield to the poll-‘nticians and public-relations people fornwhom moral cowardice is the betternpart of valor. As Webb suggests late innthe book, ‘”Honor was a microscope.nIt could also be a guillotine.”...

Guns, Laws,nRightsnAlan M. Gottlieb: The Rightsnof Gun Owners; Caroline HousenPublishers; Aurora, Illinois.nThe hard face of liberal irrationalitynshows itself nowherenmore clearly than on the issue ofngun control. Most liberals ownnno guns; indeed, they break outnin a cold sweat at the mere sightnof one, unless, of course, the offensivenweapon be wielded by anghetto child or a Third...

SCREENnA Duologue on Pictorial Essayism & Other ImpressionsnChariots of Fire; Screenplay by ColinnWelland; Directed by Hugh Hudson;nALadd Company & Warner BrothersnRelease.nsnChariots of Fire would seem doomednto failure; it contains none of the essentialsnthat earmark a film for successn—no sex, no violence, no cynicism, nonslick commercialism, no faddish leftism.nMost shocking of all, the hero is anBible-quoting...

Art, of course, is an illusion, thoughnmany frequently overlook that fact andntreat it as a direct representation ofnreality. Increasingly, modern novelists,nare calling attention to their form sonthat people will recognize fiction as fiction.nSome, like John Fowles, do it wellnby masterfully manipulating time, whilenothers take a more heavy-handed approachnand spill type all over the page.nA question...

prehensibility.nNow. however, we are hearing refreshingnvoices crying out “The Emperornhas no clothes.” It is revealing tonread of the reactions to the good newsnin Walter Simmons’s account in Fanfaren(June/July, 1981) of a seminar lastnspring in New York City on the statenof modern music. He relates a numbernof examples provided by the participantsn—distinguished critics and composersn—of “the...

shared by two other tonal composers,nErnest Bloch and Paul Creston. Muczynski’sn”Dance Movements” (1963) andn”A Serenade for Summer” (1976) on_nLR-110 could be classed as light musicnfor chamber orchestra, but it is wellnenotjgh constructed to delight the listenernrepeatedly. Muczynski notes in hisnletter that the most effective means ofncondemnation under the old tyranny wasnto say that one’s music...

the Cat” are closed to the records of RichardnNixon. One is forced to wonder justnwhat benefit this exclusion confers onnAmerican education.nline Petite CrapulenIn the forthcoming California senatorialnrace, one contender for the DemocraticnParty’s nomination is Mr. GorenVidal, a novelist. He has perfect credentialsnfor a certain not-negligible segmentnof the state’s voting constituency.nHis appeal to this group is...

The Moral Majority has emerged as the favorite bete noirenof academicians, journalists and the routine proponents ofnliberal culture. Among conservative intellectuals, the Reverendnferry Falwell’s crusade against godlessness and immoralitynhas provoked considerable debate and a variety of positions.nIn the May 1981 issue 0/The Rockford Papers Dr.nfames f. Thompson, fr. expressed his qualified approval ofnthe Moral Majority....

tional arguments from Blackstone and Marshall. Like Dr.nThompson, I am under no illusions about the limits of itsncultural horizons. Nonetheless, its understanding of the Billnof Rights would probably not have offended the authors ofnour Constitution. A call for tighter government control overnpornography or socially indecent TV sitcoms represents nonassault on the First Amendment as it...

OPINIONS & VIEWSnClear Voices from DarknessnAl Santoli: Everything We Had;nRandom House; New York.nby Edward J. WalshnOix years have passed since the fallnof South Vietnam to the regular armynof the communist North, and todaynthat ill-starred country is one insteadnof two. The political adjustment hasnbeen accomplished. The little nation ofnbattlehardened communists, once thentoast of leftists throughout the...

rine took on a still darker cast, withnincidents of officers and NCO’s murdered,ncivilians abused and killed, drugnaddiction of epidemic proportions.nA.11 this is part of the story toldnin Everything We Had, but the book isnnot only of American nightmares. JonathannPolansky, a rifleman with then101st Airborne Division, tells of a villagendestroyed, the inhabitants all killednby the Viet...

the truth—brims forth from thesensometimes less-than-articulate peoplenwho open their souls. They tell aboutntheir tours in Vietnam, but tell us alsonabout what we will always face in com­nmunist aggression and subversion innless-developed regions. The point isnnot that we should not take the field.nIt is that we should know how to gonabout winning. •nChastened Liberalsnand Concerned ConservativesnJoseph...

ure to enact the full liberal agenda, atntimes he fears that liberalism has beenntoo successful already. How do we protectnacademic freedom from affirmativeactionnzealots? What happens to localncontrol of public schools when the federalngovernment moves in? What cannbe done to prevent welfare fraud? Howncan HEW be run more efficiently andnless expensively? How can bureaucraticnred tape be...

servative circles to suggest that such anthing as the common good exists andnthat in a diverse and pluralistic societynone must at times turn to the federalngovernment to protect and nurture thisncommon good. Well, if this be heresynthen make the most of it, for conservatismncannot afford to tie itself to anSocial Darwinian vision of a societyncomposed...

Permissive Muddle & Egalitarian MuggingnPhilip Green: The Pursuit of Inequality;nPantheon Books; NewnYork.nMaxine Schnall: Limits: A Searchnfor New Values; Clarkson N. Potter;nNew York.nby John C. CaiazzanJ. he West no less than China underwentna cultural revolution in the 60’s,nonly ours took place not at the commandnof a central authority but as the resultnof the interaction of social...

Examples of the latter—“We soon discoverednthat promiscuity did not addressnthe problem of dependence and, ifnanything, only underscored it. We begannto see that it was not unrepressed lustnthat was causing us to lie down withnperfect strangers, but terror. . . . Wenhad liberated ourselves from blind obediencento past authority only to becomena cultural police state ruled...

to the order of subjective perceptionn(thus, IQ scores tell us nothing aboutnintelligence because intelligence itselfnrefers to many more things than thenability to do well on objective tests,nwhile poll results depend on the questionsnthe pollsters ask), then assertnthat the state ought to reconstitute socialnreality along egalitarian lines andnclaim that opponents of this policy havenonly their own...