The Elegant Variation: MORE ON JAMES

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April 07, 2007

MORE ON JAMES

I've been thinking a bit this weekend about Steve's recent post at This Space, in which he approvingly notes Gary Indiana's less than favorable view of Clive James in the Village Voice. (For some strange reason, Liz Lopatto seems to want to make it seem like Steve is poking at me, but I think he's really poking at James. At any rate, my bow is so riddled, I'd scarcely notice.)

I'm not quite as keen on the Indiana piece as Steve is. Yes, James is pretty abrupt with Sartre and Celine. OK. The man has written millions of words of criticism - if this is the most for which we can call him to account, he's probably in pretty good shape. (Even Indiana notes that he's quite fun to read.)

But the point that struck me more was the notion that James can't "interrogate his own broad assumptions and prejudices." That's probably not an entirely unfair appraisal (although "won't" seems more likely than "can't") but I am moved to ask - who really does this? Don't we all, to a greater or lesser degree, live in thrall to our own assumptions? Don't get me wrong - I am a genuine, huge fan of Stephen's work, I've been reading him religiously since his Spike days. But I don't really recall loads of examples of him challenging his own assumptions and prejudices, which become fairly easy to discern over time. (One might even argue that, in uncritically embracing a piece that essentially supports his views, Steve did a bit of what he chides James for.)

But that's no reason to stop reading him. Why would we forsake a smart, funny, thoughtful writer because he has his own hobbyhorses? And, to be clear, he's not the only one. There aren't many blogs - or writers - out there who really excels at that sort of vigorous self-examination and reappraisal because, frankly, it's not human nature. We make our beds and generally stay put - or at least within the vicinity. Otherwise, you'd see Ben Marcus championing realism and me touting the virtues of science fiction. (This isn't to suggest that I - and others - don't stay open to things that challenge our assumptions. But this notion of a wholesale renegotation of whatever it is that animates one, well, that's a rarer beast by far. Hell, one might argue that Hitchens has done so, and look at what a mess that's made.)

So I guess what I'm saying is, though the criticism is true to some degree, this all seems a rather slight peg on which to hang James out to dry. (I also note that it's generally the British who have less use for James than us Yanks; he's probably not suffering from overexposure on these shores.) Either way, let he who is without sin, etc.

Posted at 09:17 AM in The Conversation | Permalink

Comments

You're right Mark, I wasn't "poking" at you so much as what I see as the inexplicable regard for James' writings in general. I can understand the polite welcome he has received if one hasn't heard of him before or read just an occasional essay.

The quotation from Indiana's review is a possible explanation for such a welcome. It's not necessarily a criticism of James' work, though in effect it is. But in my defence, I'd say on my blog I challenge the most common assumptions about literature even when "displaying" my own prejudices. But I'd say it was unpacking my prejudices rather than displaying them. Curiously, I'm not feted by liberal magazines and reviews with money offers to write 5,000 word essays!

The reason why I dislike James' writings has nothing to do with attacks on Sartre or Celine. I have no particular interest in these writers (except to complain that Sartre obscures greater French writers and thinkers). It is because he writes far too much and says too little. Have you seen those interminable essays in the TLS on drivel like "The West Wing"? And then there's his bizarre attack on Isaiah Berlin, his argument with Gore Vidal over the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Vidal challenged assumptions and CJ stoutly defended them), and his recent appearances on the BBC sneering at those opposed to the liberal-humanist terror campaign (he seems to very much in the same camp of his buddies Amis and Hitchens).

But are you aware of his celebrity status over here? In the last 30 years or so he's been a regular on British TV, presenting talk shows, travelogues etc. I'm sure they must have appeared over there alongside David Attenborough nature docs. He even chaired an occasionally excellent arts discussion programme that was soon taken off air for being too clever by half. So I don't know where that stuff about us having no use for him comes from. He's what might be called a public intellectual (if such a thing were legal over here).

Posted by: steve mitchelmore | April 08, 2007 at 07:09 AM

"Public intellectual" is a good way of putting it. James (who was once a near neighbor of mine when I lived for a time in the UK) has a foot in both the popular culture and high culture camps. He's as comfortable writing about Leopardi as he is (famously) for writing about Judith Krantz. His TV review for the Observer were brilliant and paved the way for other "intellectual" reviewers as Julian Barnes. I fondly remember his late-night show on LWT called "Saturday Night People". Very funny stuff.

Would he be differently regarded if he just stuck to literature? I'm not so sure he'd succeed as well there as he does as more of a renaissance man--even "dilletante" might serve him better--with far-ranging interests and a few that actually go fairly deep. I do applaud him, though, for at least learning foreign languages so as to read in the original, and never begrudge him his enthusiasm over more popular genres in whatever medium.

It was Proust who once said that there was more truth in a song sung in a smoky low café than in an aria at the Opéra on a Saturday evening.

Posted by: J.P. Smith | April 08, 2007 at 11:58 AM

Steve,

Thanks as always for the thoughtful comments - sorry, "no use" was a poor choice of words; I meant that he probably suffers from overexposure (and perhaps, as you suggest, closer examination) on your side than on ours.

I wonder, then, if it's not (to some extent) inevitable that the more one says, the more there will be to take issue with. I suspect that sounds rather simplistic and obvious on its face, but I merely mean that when someone's output - and interest - are as voluminous as James' appear to be, if there isn't simply going to be more opportunity to misstep. Because, yes, you're right - I read the West Wing piece, thought it beneath him. And perhaps there's a trace of gun-for-hire hackery that might creep into such efforts over time.

But the notion that James' appeal is "inexplicable" is the one that brings me up short. Frustrating to some, perhaps; irritating to others, sure. But no one - not even you, I think - would argue that he's got smarts and style (though you may not care for the ends to which he deploys them), and such writers will always find a welcoming readership. (For example, I quite enjoyed his demolition of Leni Riefenstahl in the recent NYTBR - a typically Jamesian bit of hatchet work).

Does James belong on a shelf beside the Deep Thinkers of His Age? Probably not - though I'd be hard pressed to stock that shelf just now. But - and this is a purely subjective, unscientific response - I always greet his byline with a certain kind of pleasure, looking forward to certain kind of pungent, arch (and sometimes jaundiced) view of the subject at hand. Will he be one of my intellectual guiding lights? Depends on the case, I think. But will he always entertain me - absolutely. And in the current grim climate of intellectual affairs, that's not something to utterly devalue. Warts and all.

Posted by: TEV | April 08, 2007 at 03:20 PM

Little enough personally to have formed an opinion on James, though I do remember a relatively recent British tv talk-show appearance, followed by David Bowie, and in their little moments of mental jousting Bowie very mcuh wiped the floor with Clive. I think he's a relatively bright light intellectually in an age of mediocrity. I don't think he is more of this mediocrity than above it.

Posted by: Patrick | April 10, 2007 at 06:56 AM

Emm........I do think he is more of this mediocrity than above it.

Posted by: Patrick | April 10, 2007 at 06:57 AM

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

April 07, 2007

MORE ON JAMES

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

April 07, 2007

MORE ON JAMES

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism