I'm glad you write these essays, even if they aren't your popular ones. This was fascinating and made me want to reread some of Doste....ugh, gonna misspell it . . . again.
The rise of Mr. Henderson as a public intellectual is a great example of intellectual merit still triumphing in the U.S. over connections and privilege. How many of his wealthy Yale classmates from prominent families have contributed as much? My guess is very few. His analysis of The Devils has been a pleasure to read.
Reflecting on your moderate boomers, radical zoomers concept, it seems to me that the Boomers were every bit as radical in their youth as zoomers are today, if not more so, at least relative to the society they inhabited. The cooptation of the radical boomers into bourgeois society is interesting. The same thing generally happened with the American communists of the 1930s. I am not sure what to make of it. My inkling is that America manages to transmute youth radicalism into elite cultural power through peaceful means. There is no need to murder the people in the old guard, relatively conservative establishment to win power because they are basically pushovers. Richard Nixon wasn't rolling tanks over demonstrators. Once the radicals are in power, only the aspects of radicalism that continue to benefit them are retained. Free love can stay. Maoism has to go.
Great analysis of a complex book. I was pleasantly surprised by his choice, but it is not unusual for someone of his level and competence.
However, when one is reading a book that describes the preparation for major historical events, it seems to be edifying for the own preparation in case when drastic socio-economic changes happen, but another thing is to live them like Solzhenitsyn. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn took all these aspects of human psychology to another level, because he lived the unimaginable, and he was able to convey the facts in an imaginable way, in a realistic way, that injures the mind of the reader.
Rob Henderson is a major talent, than which there is no better proof than his 3 part reading of The Devils.
And of course it has no bearing on America or Europe in the present day.
I'm glad you write these essays, even if they aren't your popular ones. This was fascinating and made me want to reread some of Doste....ugh, gonna misspell it . . . again.
Is this a case of “elite overproduction”? (Reductive compared to Dostoevskii’s understanding, of course.)
There's nothing new under the sun as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes. Thank you for sharing this three-part series, Rob. Keep it up. :)
I learned so much. Thank you for this. It is unnerving how much this novel reflects present day American elite society.
The rise of Mr. Henderson as a public intellectual is a great example of intellectual merit still triumphing in the U.S. over connections and privilege. How many of his wealthy Yale classmates from prominent families have contributed as much? My guess is very few. His analysis of The Devils has been a pleasure to read.
Hardships built character.
Reflecting on your moderate boomers, radical zoomers concept, it seems to me that the Boomers were every bit as radical in their youth as zoomers are today, if not more so, at least relative to the society they inhabited. The cooptation of the radical boomers into bourgeois society is interesting. The same thing generally happened with the American communists of the 1930s. I am not sure what to make of it. My inkling is that America manages to transmute youth radicalism into elite cultural power through peaceful means. There is no need to murder the people in the old guard, relatively conservative establishment to win power because they are basically pushovers. Richard Nixon wasn't rolling tanks over demonstrators. Once the radicals are in power, only the aspects of radicalism that continue to benefit them are retained. Free love can stay. Maoism has to go.
Great analysis of a complex book. I was pleasantly surprised by his choice, but it is not unusual for someone of his level and competence.
However, when one is reading a book that describes the preparation for major historical events, it seems to be edifying for the own preparation in case when drastic socio-economic changes happen, but another thing is to live them like Solzhenitsyn. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn took all these aspects of human psychology to another level, because he lived the unimaginable, and he was able to convey the facts in an imaginable way, in a realistic way, that injures the mind of the reader.