Reviews and News:
The British have an especially beautiful way of losing: "It was a long time before they were overcome – before we finished them. When we did get to them, they all died in one place, together. They threw down their guns when their ammunition was done, and then commenced with their pistols, which they used as long as their ammunition lasted; and then they formed a line, shoulder to shoulder and back to back, and fought with their knives."
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In the today's Wall Street Journal, Joseph Epstein reviews Denis Boyles' book Everything Explained That Is Explainable.
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Roger Scruton's Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture, which appeared originally in 2000, has been updated: "This slim volume is invaluable in setting forth clearly a critical overview of contemporary culture and cultural trends, and belongs on the reading list of all who consider themselves engaged in the life of the mind. In this book, Roger Scruton, the newly-knighted contemporary philosopher best known for his work in the field of aesthetics, and author of many works advancing a conservative viewpoint (including his most recent major work, How to Be a Conservative, 2014), is concerned with the differences between culture and high culture, and what these differences mean in the trajectory of what used to be called 'civilization' but is now generally simply called 'world culture.' He is concerned to defend higher and more critical culture."
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Everybody knows that Shakespeare's sonnets are about love and friendship. Rebecca Burgess says they're about politics, too.
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A Facebook exec prognosticates the end of the written word. At least we won't have to contend with obnoxious Facebook posts?
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In Case You Missed It:
Primo Levi's collected works.
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Wallace Stevens' growing reputation.
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Why death and social media don't go together.
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Classic Essay: George Orwell, "Wells, Hitler, and the World State"
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Interview: The NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown speaks with Yo-Yo Ma
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