Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Insincerity

Ronald Trowbridge pays me a gracious compliment.

Something special needs to be said about Rick Brookhiser's writing—namely, that it is honest and sincere.  This may seem a trivial point, but it is not.  Too many writers these days want to show you how smart they are, how cute they can write.  Theirs is a performance, showing off self rather than the subject they're writing about. In that context, Oscar Wilde wrote, "She is like most artists; she is all style without sincerity."  And it was "insincerity" that Orwell blamed most for flowery, wordy writing. Brookhiser has risen far above the insecurity of pretentiousness.

Memoir is the last place in the world for insincerity, yet it is the place from which it is hardest to root insincerity out. "'I have done that,' says my memory. 'I cannot have done that,' says my pride, and remains inexorable. Eventually—memory yields." (Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil).

06/09 09:49 PMShare