Carl Rollyson Quote
The world seemed to turn on Michael’s likes and dislikes—as I learned when I mentioned I was giving a talk about Dr. Johnson at Cambridge. Michael objected to him as though Johnson was just another Tory politician. Indeed, literature seemed another form of politics and one had to declare a position. What’s all this anti-Johnson stuff, Michael’s brother John had asked him. It won’t stand up, John said. Michael explained his complaint to me: It all derives from Johnson’s attack on Swift. Several people I admire very much like Alan Taylor was also a tremendous admirer of Lives of the Poets. No one can deny what a wonderful book it is. But he describes Swift’s madness without any kind of qualification. Once you look into it the story is absolutely false. He was not mad at all. Even Swift admirers like George Orwell swallowed the story of Swift’s madness.
The world seemed to turn on Michael’s likes and dislikes—as I learned when I mentioned I was giving a talk about Dr. Johnson at Cambridge. Michael objected to him as though Johnson was just another Tory politician. Indeed, literature seemed another form of politics and one had to declare a position. What’s all this anti-Johnson stuff, Michael’s brother John had asked him. It won’t stand up, John said. Michael explained his complaint to me: It all derives from Johnson’s attack on Swift. Several people I admire very much like Alan Taylor was also a tremendous admirer of Lives of the Poets. No one can deny what a wonderful book it is. But he describes Swift’s madness without any kind of qualification. Once you look into it the story is absolutely false. He was not mad at all. Even Swift admirers like George Orwell swallowed the story of Swift’s madness.
Related Quotes
About Carl Rollyson