human nature. Of course some greatnwriters can do more—perhaps paint annentire life into a few pages. But genuisesnare even more rare than writers of goodnstories—and it doesn’t pay to play at beingna genius if you are not.nUamon Runyon was no genius, butnhe wrote wonderful stories. One of thenmost endearing things about Runyon isnthat, in the...

their murderous national honor than toncheat them at cards and bribe them withntheir own money? It’s too bad MissnThe Magic & Power of WordsnBorges: A Reader: A Selection from thenWritings of Jorge Luis Borges; edited bynEmir Rodriguez Monegal and AlastairnReid; E.P. Button; New York.nItalo Calvino: If on a winter’s night antraveler; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich;nNew York.nby...

think of one man, of that man’s trivialnfortunes or misfortunes, though he benthat very man.” Borges wants to deciphernwords and language as a means of reachingnthe ultimate meaning behind them,nbut he realizes that to penetrate thisnrealm would be to arrive at a silencenbeyond the power of man to create or tonfathom.nIhe possibilities afforded by wordsnand...

Noble LiberalismnAlain Besancon: The Rise of the Gulag:nIntellectual Origins of Leninism; Continuum;nNew York.nby Lee CongdonniJy now it is commonplace that intellectualsnroutinely succumb to the totalitarianntemptation, chiefly from the left.nOver and over again they have served asnapologists for tyrannies that advertisentheir commitment to Marxism-Leninism,nprating about the villainous characternof Western “bourgeois” democracy.nSince the end of World War...

well as historical importance: To what extentnis Soviet history and policy determinednby Marxist-Leninist ideology? Accordingnto most anti-Soviet Russians, thenideology—imported from the West—ncreated in Russia a monstrous dictatorshipnthat represents a fundamental breaknwith the country’s past. Some Westernnhistorians, including the Polish-bornnRichard Pipes, take a different view;nadapting Tocqueville’s famous argumentnconcerning historical continuitynduring the French Revolution, they insistnthat the...

much as did his liberal critics. The causenof Ivan Karamazov’s damnation, afternall, is that he, like the revolutionaries,nhated this imperfect world and thosenwho inhabit it.nIn any event, Besangon proceeds tonargue that the intelligentsia needed anpolitical party to elevate it to power. Thenturning point came in 1898 with thenorganization of the Russian Social DemocraticnParty, soon to...

on the average, a book a year, and then”Oates fiction factory” (as one critic hasncalled her talent) is one industry seeminglynunaffected by recession or supplysideneconomics. By contrast, Polish-CanadiannHelen Weinzweig, now nearingnseventy, published her only other novelnabout ten years ago, while AustraliannHelen Garner, about forty, is publishingnher first. Although the three women varynin age, nationality and...

THE MONUMENTAL LITERATURE OF DWARFSn. .. CONTINUES.n7H£_ ROCKFORD PAPERS’ newnseries, “The Monumental Literature ofnDwarfs,” continues its critical look at contemporarynAmerican literature with essaysnon the following celebrated authors:nMARILYN FRENCH and MARY GOR­nDON. Are their novels literature or feministnbrochures? Betsy Claike writes on perhapsnthe most-hyped contemporarynauthoresses.nNORMAN MAILER. Is he still the greatnwhite hope of American literature or...

lan jungle in which human life is “solitary,npoor, nasty, brutish, and short.”nSociety is corrupt; government is fascist;nGod is dead or dying—all the sleazy wisdomnof the 60’s and 70’s is replayed. Thenmajor characters in the three novels arenalike in that they want to live “in the moment,n” and thus all they find is a “halflifenof waiting.”...

Their myth grew to such dimensionsnthat, on the fiftieth anniversary of theirnexecution, Governor Michael Dukakis ofnMassachusetts issued a lengthy proclamationndecreeing, among other things,nthat “any stigma and disgrace should benforever removed from the names ofnNicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.”nIn the end Sacco and Vanzetti were vindicatednby the myth they had helped toncreate.nAlthough the myth of SenatornJoseph...

Star, and her name is today a bywordnamong Washington conservatives as ansymbol of a slanted political reporter.)nThe Milwaukee Journal pionttttd thisnsort of reporting by inserting into its Mc­nCarthy stories bracketed material whichndisputed or refuted his charges. If “objective”nreporting assumed that thencharges made by a United States Senatornwere probably correct, advocacy journalismnin its early stages implicitly...

Sleazy Treatments of Complex MattersnAnthony Cave Brown and Charles B.nMacDonald: On a Field of Reel; G.P.nPutnam’s Sotis; New York.nDonald Neff: Warriors at Suez: EisenhowernTakes America into the MiddlenEast; Linden Press/Simon & Schuster;nNew York.nby AlanJ. Levineno. fn a Field of Red is purportedly anmajor work on Soviet and communist intriguesnfrom 1919 to 1943; unfortunatelynit proves to...

original Leninist sense, i.e. that the Russiannrevolution would spark similar revolutionsnelsewhere, was always a mirage.nPerhaps if they had been better led, communistsnmight have succeeded in seizingnpower in Berlin and Vienna in 1919, butnthey could not have retained it. Evennsuch a temporary victory was possible onlynin countries that had suffered defeat:nthere was no possibility of a...

Few people of this school, however,nhave given freer rein to their fantasies. Innorder to portray Israel as the aggressor,nNeff resorts to the tedious method ofnemphasizing any violent or hostile Israelinactions while ignoring or minimizing thenevents that triggered them. Israel’snreprisal raids for border incidents ornPalestinian raids are much more heartilyncondemned than “fedayeen” activitiesnin Israel. Neff barely...

commission—that have beennthe salient features of child-rearingnfor decades. It stresses thenfundamental wisdom of thenadult rather than the child, withnthe former’s privilege to put thenmarriage, rather than the child,nfirst. Since the marriage is thenFoul PlaynGlenn N. Schram: Toward anResponse to the AmericannCrisis; University Press of America;nWashington, D.C.nDon’t expect Glenn Schramnto win any awards from thenAmerican Political...

S( Kr.i:nCritical FolliesnAtlantic City; Written by John Guare;nDirected by Louis Malle; Paramount Pictures.nVictor/Victoria; Written and directed bynBlake Edwards; MGM/United Artists.nby Eric ShapearonOnce again, a foreigner performsnmagic—a proud tradition since denToqueville, perhaps even before that—nby putting his finger on that enigmaticnbutton which releases some elusive truthsnabout America, truths that arenunbeknownst to natives. This is a movienabout...

Ml SICnRecords: Tuneful Affairsnby Robert R. ReillynAn attractive disc of chamber musicnby the Western Arts Trio has been issuednby Laurel Records (LR-109), Volume IIInin a series featuring this fine ensemble.nThe first piece is Joaquin Turina’s SecondnTrio, Opus 74 in B minor for piano andnstrings. The beginning is reminiscent ofnAnton Arensky’s Trio, a late 19thcenturynRussian work....

(1955). This work is written in a muchnmore modern idiom than the Thomson.nIt is not inaccessible, but it’s complexitynmakes it quite difficult to approach. Accordingnto the composer’s notes, the firstnmovement is “a rather explosive shortnsonata-form movement,” the secondn(which, separately, in the form of Adagionfor Orchestra, received the Fromm FoundationnAward and a Leopold Stokowskinperformance) is “pervasively...

for racial harmony; Soap counselsntolerance for homosexuals; even Fonzie’snown Happy Days takes on a new socialnconsciousness. With Norman Lear in thenlead, the sitcoms battle against everynconventional belief in sight.nSince parents all too often teach conventionalnbeliefs to their children, itnfollows that the sitcoms must liberate thenchildren from these pernicious influences.nFather doesn’t know bestnanymore. Sitcom kids work...

tendon was basically moral, conceptual,nconditioned by a profound faith in eachnside’ s argument. Often, it was referred tonas a tragic and insoluble clash betweennhonorable men who differed so extremelynthat blood must flow. Nothing couldnbe further from the neofeudalism of today’snmedia. They are in a triple conflict:nwith the goverrunent which was mandatednby the people, with the...

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Sexual Revolution is a pathetic misnomer. The most popularnfeature of revolutions is their reversal of roles: aristocrats go tonthe scaffold, judged by the wretched of the earth. The needynare told that all their needs will be fulfilled. The greedy have allntheir luxuries withdrawn—at least temporarily. In light of thisnsimple recipe, nothing short of a mass...

millennia to walk a tightrope between sexual morality and sexualnmores, in America went head over heels into a direct confrontation—andnthe end result is our current chaos in whichnsome American churches opt for modish permissive progressivismnjust to keep their flock in the pews, while others use obsoletendialectics to combat a permissiveness which they cannotncomprehend. Actually, what...

Fast Mental FoodnWilliam F. Buckley, Jr.: MarconPolo, if You Can; Doubleday&Co.;nNew York.nby Becki KlutenWhat is America’s answer tonJames Bond up to now? In WilliamnF. Buckley, Jr.’s latest, thenredoubtable Blackford Oakesnsteps into fictional shoes thatnwere worn in real life by FrancisnGary Powers. We are back withnour old friends (CIA spooks all)nand lovers from Buckley’s firstnthree spy...

We Can C^e You Six NewnReasons to Subscribento THE ROCKFORD PAPERS.nWe think THE ROCKFORD PAPERS’new sixpartnseries will give you six reasons to put us onnyour permanent reading list.nThe series is called “The MonumentalnLiterature of Dwarfs.” In it we try to undo whatnthe liberal culture has done to contemporarynAmerican literature.nSix critics re-examine the work and reputationsnof...

one did not. That’s the wholenpoint of a collection of humorousnessays; it’s a sort of dessertncart from which one may picknand choose. It makes no differencenif one selects thenNapoleon or the strudel—everybodynenjoys som’rrhing.nAny dedicated smoker is guaranteednto share in her enthusiasmnfor the sport—along withnher puzzled disdain for the morenmilitant nonsmokers among us.nPerhaps one day members...

noted but is simply the lensnthrough which our societynperceives itself and thenmold through which it increasinglynshapes itself.nThis is not a revelation.nWriters such as Cervantes andnFlaubert emphasized the overwhelming—andnoften disastrous—effectnthe fashionablenideas of their time had on DonnQuixote and Emma Bo vary. Butnit is worth repeating when one isnconfronted with serious phenomenanwhich affect our lives:nthe banality of...

the Lower East Side moved withnastonishing, ferocious dynamismninto this newly opened fieldnof economic activity, where sellingnimages—a cultural merchandise—suddenlynbecame anroute to unheard-of wealth,npower and glories. They, themselves,nwere often cutthroats andngamblers, ruthless exploitersnand workaholics, mercilessnschemers and frivolous hypocrites.nBut, paradoxical as itnsounds, they were in love withnthe Little Lord Fauntleroy ethos,nwith the Louisa May Alcottnmoral aesthetics, with British-nVictorian...

created a psychological ambiance whichnconditioned the American mind in a perplexing,nobscure manner—people maynhave been aware of the surrealism ofnthose movies, yet they somehow believednin their potential to engender reality, tonreflect some hazy truths. In other words,na mystique was accepted as both reverienand recipe for living; a placebo turnednout to be a prescription for culturalnnorms.nThus, a...

approach, but still invests the pieces withnthe phrasings and subtleties of jazz.nThere is no mistaking where her hean isnwhen she inflects “One for My Baby”nand “Over the Rainbow” with blue notesnor makes “Ding Dong the Witch isnSTAGEnThe Epistemology of ReportingnHow I Got That Story; Written bynAmlin Gray; Directed by CarolenRothman; Westside Arts Theater.nby Robert R....

Voegelin but is contemptuously ignorednby the most formative component ofncontemporaneity—the media. Then”facts” are up front and in the “news”nsections and the “values” are neatly relegatednto the editorial pages. Butn”news,” by its very nature, cannot benneutral. Carl Becker observed, “Historynis not fact, but the interpretation ofnfact.” This is true of “news” as well. Thenvery process of...

1830’s. Wonder of wonders: Schlesinger’snJackson is a 20th-century liberal, anFranklin D. Roosevelt in frontier garb.nTo the credit of the historical profession,nthe next generation of historiansnsubjected Schlesinger’s view of Jacksonianismnto scathing criticism. The samencannot be said of Schlesinger’s three-volumenwork of the 1950’s. The Age ofnRoosevelt. American historians still generallynaccept as holy writ Schlesinger’snview of the 1920’s...

THE AMERICAN PROSCENIUMnTransatlantic ChatsnIn January the Committee for the FreenWorld held a conference in Washington,nD.C. at which debaters from both sidesnof the Atlantic pondered our commonnpresent dangers. The CFW is a worthynoutfit dedicated to the restoration of rationalitynin an age of neoscholasticism,nwhen dogmas determine intellectual effortsnrather than vice versa. The generalntheme of the meeting could...

conceptually, however, they are mostlynlowbrows who seem to scorn any ideologicalnapproach to man, society, democracy,ncountry, civilization, social responsibilities—keynnotions in our precariousnhistorical situation. If Mr. Reagan hadnbeen elected simply as a Republican, wenwould have little quarrel with him. Butnhe is on record as being a conservativenbearer oi conservative values, and henseems to be mauling those values...

juana, and 16 percent said they favorednlegalizing it. Six years ago, 25npercent said they used it, and 33npercent favored legalization . . .n—75 percent said they were membersnof an organized religion, and morenthan 50 percent said they attendnweekly services.n—68 percent favored the use of nuclearnpower for energy.nWhat we have been saying all the time isnthat...

JOURNALISMnHere We Go AgainnAs if there were not already enoughnevidence that American press coveragenhelped North Vietnam and the Vietcongnto achieve their goals in Indochina, nowncomes the ultimate proof. Somewhere innthe highest reaches of the communists’nstrategic global command a decision hasnbeen made: let in American reporters.nEXiring the Vietnam War, only declarednsupporters—we call them traitors—andnwell-checked Soviet sympathizers...

history will vindicate our intuition.nIn a section of a recent New YorknTimes Sunday Magazine, Mr. Middletonnelaborated on why the Vietnam Warnwent the way it did and why it left a lastingnand ominous scar on the collectivenconsciousness of the entire professionalnAmerican military. The article consists ofnlots of well-measured, calm, evenhanded,nobjective, introspective observations,nresponsible reporting andnmature conclusions—but there...

LIBERAL CULTUREnSiskelnEverybody has his Siskel andnso do we—without whom wenmight be deprived of our right tona bit of merriment amid the allpervadingngloom of high interestnrates, communist propagandanmovies receiving Oscar nominationsnand Jesuits working fornSoviet imperialism in LatinnAmerica. Our Siskel happens tonbe a film reviewer for the ChicagonTribune, a newspaper thatncalls itself conservative in its editorialsnbut simultaneously...

a movie so abominably gory thatneven Wcame to the conclusionnthat it may be time for somenalteration of its own nihilisticnmessage:nMy own view, however, isnthat the book, the movie,nthe genre, have all outlivednany social or artistic purpose.n. . . Now in the ’80s it is thensociopath who sells newspapersnand movie tickets. . , .nAnyone who breaks...

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Americans have probably wearied of things Southern, andnwho can blame them? The Carter-inspired wave of Southernnchic did little to enhance the South’s reputation. The boorishnessnof Ham and Billy, the chicanery of Bert, the cloyingncuteness of Jody, the oratorical ineptitude of Jimmy and thentight-lipped rigidity of Rosalyn exemplified all the worstnfeatures of the South and none...

eously about those barbaric rednecks. It was not easy to be anwhite Southerner in those days; the role of a scapegoat isna painful one.nHe L ow long ago all that seems now. In a mere decade ornso the turmoil has subsided, the worst elements of an oldernSouth have been rejected or substantially mitigated, the bestnaspects...

QpiMONS & Vii:ws TnThe Age of CriticismnPaul Hollander: Political Pilgrims:nTravels of Western Intellectuals tonthe Soviet Union, China, and Cuba,n1928-1978; Oxford University Press;nNew York.nby Lee CongdonnWe live in the age of criticism.nCritics of literature, art, drama andnfilm enjoy enormous prestige, andnschools of criticism sometimes overshadownthe creative work itself. Innphilosophy the heirs of Descartes arenubiquitous; still determined...

oratory: “Hitler is Germany, Germanynis Hitler.” Simone de Beauvoir andnothers report that the verbose jefe hasndone far more than simply establishingnsocial justice; he has communicated tonhis people a new sense of purpose.nRather like Ho Chi Minh, the kindlynfather of unspoiled children who, fornreasons unknown to the likes of RamseynClark, Jane Fonda, Staughton Lynd andn”Father” Berrigan,...

ness for themselves—here one thinks ofnRaskolnikov and Stavrogin—they couldnnot extend it to others. Hence their extremensensitivity to injustice, a sensitivitynthat was itself grounded in Christiannteachings—but it was not mitigatednby compassion. In the end, they came tondespise not only the czar and his government,nbut also the people in whose namenthey claimed to speak. So fierce wasntheir...

On Soft Determinism & Ambivalent AppeasementnThomas Sowell: Ethnic America: AnHistory; Basic Books; New York.nAnne Wortham: The Other Side ofnRacism: A Philosophical Study ofnBlack Race Consciousness; OhionState University Press; Columbus,nOhio.nby John C. CaiazzanIn the political and ideological climatenwhich currently surrounds the issuenof ethnicity in America, this booknis a bombshell. The issues of race, discriminationnand welfare have...

to note, because Sowell’s is a “soft” denterminism) by the social whole of whichnhe is a member, in this case his ethnicngroup. For example, if a man is of Italiannextraction, according to Sowell, it isnlikely that he shares the behavioral characteristicsnof Italians as a group, e.g. henis devoted to his family, a winedrinkernbut not an...

for other activities which might seem toncompensate for the lack of political activity—namely,norganized crime and reliancenon the nuclear family. Indeed, thentwo seem to reinforce each other and tonintermingle, a fact fixed indelibly innthe national consciousness by the twonGodfather films. The Mafia, however,nthough present in southern Italy, wasnnot, Sowell maintains, something thenItalians brought with them, for...

which Ms. Wortham calls “spiritual separatism,”nare revealed, as in the casenwhere blacks assert the superiority ofnblack culture while at the same time contendingnthat they deserve compensatoryntreatment because they have been victimizednby white society. Ms. Worthamnalso points out that many blacks andnmembers of ethnic groups inflatentheir own sense of self-esteem and hidentheir individual inadequacies by identifyingnthemselves...

Curricula of Malice and MistakenDavid E. Shi: Matthew Josephson,nBourgeois Bohemian; Yale UniversitynPress; New Haven, Connecticut.nBertram D. Wolfe: A Life in TwonCenturies; Stein & Day Publishers;nNevif York.nby Paul GottfriednOf these two biographies one shows,nalthough unwittingly, the cruelty ofnbeing afflicted by the divine curse ofnmadness, while the other demonstratesnthe possibility of redemption for atnleast the fortunate few....