I hate that I continue to break my silence only for obituaries, but another true giant has fallen. The legendary Frank Kermode, one of the great critics of the age, has died at 90.
His death was announced by The London Review of Books, which he helped create and to which he frequently contributed.
The author David Lodge called Mr. Kermode “the finest English critic of his generation,” and few disagreed with that assessment.
I am sad about this, too.
But mostly I am happy to find in you another kindred interest in obituaries and in marking the passing of smart ones.
My mom's letters to me are nothing but obits from the Economist. My husband finds this creepy but I find it soothing and moving and fine.
I love that the occasional, irregular heartbeat here at TEV is a death knell.
Posted by: Anne | August 20, 2010 at 06:43 PM
No need for you to apologize. I like this blog, and if I have to hear sad news, I'd rather hear it here in a friendly place.
Thanks for letting us know.
Posted by: Shelley | August 23, 2010 at 04:18 PM
I love Kermode-but, even while I re-visit Pieces of My Mind and Shakespeare's Language (esp. the latter)-I would also love to read your response to Mason w/r/t DFW. Have at it, please! Enough with this whole doldrums business. (Or: take your time. I don't want to seem aggressive or anything.)
Posted by: Michael A. Rizzo | August 24, 2010 at 08:08 PM
Frank Kermode is a respected critic in literary circles. As someone who understood modern thinkers and literarure, his contributions to Fontana Modern Masters will be remembered forever.
Posted by: Indian Book Publishers | August 27, 2010 at 04:19 AM
Ultimately this is sad, because this is the genius that said, "“the conflict between the human need to make sense of the world through storytelling and our propensity to seek meaning in details (linguistic, symbolic, anecdotal) that are indifferent, even hostile, to story.”
Even if he was a literary critic, something I don't necessarily like, you can't deny the wisdom in that statement. It's absolutely poetic!
Posted by: Bien and Robinson | September 13, 2010 at 01:36 PM