tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post2678809557511320934..comments2024-03-28T05:13:13.921-04:00Comments on Books, Inq. — The Epilogue: One more reason to read Emerson …Frank Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-52784736136374895252013-03-29T17:32:02.571-04:002013-03-29T17:32:02.571-04:00Well, it's certainly true that Waldo does come...Well, it's certainly true that Waldo does come up short on arguments. Pronouncement is his mode of expression. But when I read "Self_Reliance" when I was 15, it seemed to me to be my own personal declaration of independence. And for that I will remain grateful.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-41573691879337629342013-03-29T09:46:16.820-04:002013-03-29T09:46:16.820-04:00I don't find Emerson difficult to read, just i...I don't find Emerson difficult to read, just in general unrewarding. He must have been an exhilarating lecturer to hear--such a cool judge as Trollope thought he gave a very good speech--but when one reads "Nature" or "The American Scholar", the eye looks for arguments and finds assertions or exhortations.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-85851124222642533112013-03-29T08:34:32.353-04:002013-03-29T08:34:32.353-04:00I should have added that Emerson is easier to read...I should have added that Emerson is easier to read once you realize that the essays are pretty much mosaics composed of bits taken from his journals.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-30187646606532735392013-03-29T08:31:30.107-04:002013-03-29T08:31:30.107-04:00I think you are precisely correct, George, regardi...I think you are precisely correct, George, regarding Emerson and any conservative movement — or any other movement, for that matter. The problem with people like Brooks and Anastas is that poltics is the prism through whih they see everything.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-42367405886068705382013-03-28T22:13:53.178-04:002013-03-28T22:13:53.178-04:00I find that I tend to read Emerson with Santayana,...I find that I tend to read Emerson with Santayana, Henry Adams,Yvor Winters, Kenneth Lynn, and Flannery O'Connor clearing their throats somewhere not quite out of earshot. He writes well, but seems to me to reach reflexively for vague and general statements, unless something--Daniel Webster, England, emancipation in the West Indies--holds him to particulars.<br /><br />I have no idea how to relate Emerson to any conservative movement one might name. I don't think that Emerson would have either.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.com