Freedom and civilization are the products of middle-class values and activities, and those who question those values are enemies of society'—such is the tired and outworn conclusion of this tired and pretentious tract. Johnson, a former editor of The New Statesman, begins with a historical argument that appears promising, if eclectic and rather superficial. He traces European history from the Greeks to the Industrial Revolution, arguing that each stage in this development was propelled by the innovations and dynamism of the urban middle class, and that each stage declined or fell with the circumscription of middle-class freedoms. With the full development of a market economy, Johnson proceeds, the middle class has been able to avoid this fate in the modern epoch—at least until now—and has produced a sustained period of development and growth. This interpretation is certainly debatable—and worth debating—but any logical basis for discussion becomes utterly lost when Johnson abandons history and move to his real task: the defense of our received civilization against its enemies, whom Johnson simple-mindedly classifies as Freudians and Marxists. Taking up, as a cudgel, Karl Popper's conception of scientific verification through the criterion of falsifiability (The Logic of Scientific Discovery), Johnson attacks his opponents for their quasi-religious irrationality. His prose degenerates into ugly rhetoric such as student Fascist Left, and he adopts vaguely racist epithets like witch-doctor when referring to his targets. Like his hero Popper (in the latter's The Open Society and Its Enemies), Johnson is unable to distinguish between theories and variously attacks Herbert Marcuse, Marshall McLuhan, Ivan lllich, Freud, Levi-Strauss, and sociology tout court, employing the same insubstantial criticisms throughout. Occasionally slipping into hysterics, this book merely updates Popper's questionable work without adding any sustained theoretical content.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1977
ISBN: 0297772945
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1977
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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