... on David Lodge's Therapy: Every man his own Kierkegaard.
Kierkegaard may be, as Roger says, "about as far from the popular notion of Catholicism as one can get," but the popular notion of Catholicism tends to be wide of the mark. I studied SK (as he referred to himself) in college and have read a lot of his books. He has been one of the major influences in my life. Highly recommended: Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, as unsettling a book as Berdyaev's Slavery and Freedom. I really must go back to reading these people again. I was most authentic (I like to think) when I spent my days not just reading their books but taking them seriously enough to see through a good many of my own works and pomps.
See, Roger writes with more verve, nerve, and essential grasping of the big picture (not to mention the small screen) in a way that Kakutani fails to grasp; remember the post where you called her on the mixed metaphor in her review of his latest, Deaf Sentence, Frank? I am sure Lodge has gone further and deeper after Therapy than the Queen of the B-R Scene suggests in her review. My point? All reviews are autobiographical, a hard fact to accept; but, one essential to the art and craft of a good one. Roger *gets* Lodge; I don't think Kakutani does. Just my deux. No matter; it's another sparkling RKM review!
ReplyDeleteQuite simply, Roger is a better reviewer than Kakutani, in large measure because Roger isn't out to impress anybody. He just wants to record an honest, informed response to a book.
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