By the People mss1105600133-17 (Woman of the World: Political Thinker Hannah Arendt: General Correspondence, 1938-1976)

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                    Auden as Critic

The Last Word
 
   W.H. Auden write his literary criticism with this left hand, and it was all the better for it. His reputation didn't hang on it; he had a distaste for critical systems; with the exception of his lengthy comments on Shakespeare, he wrote mainly about prose. As a result, he could satisfy hiw own curiosities, he could satisfy his own curiosities, he could let a point go once he had made it, and he was not tempted to build a defence for his poetry. He was one of the most pleasurable and enlightening critics to read.
   A hundred times at Book Review conferences his name was suggested for an assignmentl there didn't seem to be anything we didn;t want him for. But he had only one left hand; it worked for other publications, too, for book publishers, friends. So an editor, in response to a demand for the best writer, would say, tentatively "Auden?" "Try him," and sometimes we'd get him. When we did we were never sorry, and the week we printed the piece we felt the issue was all right.
   He said once, "Any conscientious critic who has ever had to review a new volume of poetry in a limited space knows that the only fair thing to do would be to give a series of quotations without comment," and perhaps the only fair thing to do about Auden the critic is to give a series of quotations without further comment. The following comes from the prologue to "The Dyer's Hand" (Random House. Cloth $10. Paper, $2.45.)
CHARLES SIMMONS

Our judgment of an established authpr is never simply an aesthetic judgment. In addition to any liteary merit it may have, a new book by him has a historic interest for us as the act of a person in whom we have long been interested. He is not only a poet or a novelist; he is also a character in our biography.

Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.

If good literary critics are rarer than good poets or novelists, one reason is the nature of human egoism. A poet or novelist has to learn to be humble in the face of his subject matter, which is life in general. But the subject matter of a critic, before which he has to learn to be humble, is made up of authors, that is to say, human individuals, and this kind of huility is much more difficult to acquire. It is far easier to say - "Life is more important than anything I can say about it" - than to say - "Mr. A's work is more important than anything I can say about it."

Authors can be stupid enough, God knows, but they are not always quite so stupid as a certain kind of critic seems to think. The kind of critic, I mean, to whom, when he condemns a work or a passage, the possibility never occurs that its author may have foreseen exactly what he is going to say.

Some books are deservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who has ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted.

The degree of excitement which a writer feels during the process of composition is as much as indication of the value of the final result as the excitement felt by a worshiper is an indication of the value of his devotions, that is to say, very little indication.

Sincerity is like sleep. Normally, one should assume that, of course, one will be sincere, and not give the question a second thought. Most writers, however, suffer occasionally from bouts of insincereity as men do from bouts of insomnia.The rememdy in both cases is often quite simple: in the case of the latter, to change one's diet, in the case of the former, to change one's company.

The most painful of all experiences to a poet is to find that a poem of his which he knows to be a forgery has pleased the public and got into the anthologies. For all he knows or cares, the poem may be quite good, but that is not the point; he should not have written it.

For every writer, there are certain subjects which, because of defects in his character and his talent, he should never touch.

The integrity of a writer is more threatened by appeals to his social conscience, his positical or religious convictions, than by appeals to his cupidity. It is morally less confusing to be goosed by a traveling salesman than by a bishop.

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about. There is a certain kind of person who is so dominated by the desire to be loved for himself alone that he has constantly to test those around him by tiresome behavior; what he says and does must be admired, not because it is intrinsically admirable, but because it is his remark, his act. Does not this explain a good deal of avant-garde art?

The greatest writer cannot see through a brick wall but, unlike the rest of us, he does not build one.

Only a minor talent can be a perfect gentleman; a major takent is always more than a bit of a cad. Hence the importance of minor writers - as teachers of good manners. Now and again, an exquisite minor work can make a master feel thoroughly ashamed of himself.

"The unacknowledged legislators of the world" describes the secret police, not the poets.

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About this campaign

Political theorist and cultural critic Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) fled from her native Germany and occupied France and came to the United States as a Jewish refugee from the Nazi regime. She made a life as a New Yorker and became one of the world’s most prominent public intellectuals. Letters and notes in her papers document the personal side of Arendt as a wife and family member, a friend, mentor, and colleague. Correspondence, syllabi, speeches, research materials, and writings convey the public Arendt, a brilliant writer, teacher, activist, and thinker who interacted with a who’s who of fellow literati and intellectuals of her time. The woman who offered deep analysis of human nature, political systems, power and rights to her students and readers left us lasting works including Eichmann in Jerusalem, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and The Life of the Mind.

About this project

Hannah Arendt carried on a very active life as a writer, teacher, lecturer, colleague and friend. The general correspondence file includes a Who’s Who of intellectuals, thinkers, and writers of her circle in the United States and abroad as well as students and readers. Letters and notes received and sent demonstrate her itinerant travel for speaking and teaching engagements, reactions to her published works, intimacies, and debates and discussions with friends and foes in reaction to philosophical arguments and issues of her day. Correspondents include Joseph Alsop, W.H. Auden, Walter Benjamin, Richard Bernstein, Elke Gilbert, Randall Jarrell, Alfred Kazin, Lotte Kohler, Robert Lowell, Dwight MacDonald, Mary McCarthy, Hans Morgenthau, and many others.

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Auden as Critic The Last Word W.H. Auden write his literary criticism with this left hand, and it was all the better for it. His reputation didn't hang on it; he had a distaste for critical systems; with the exception of his lengthy comments on Shakespeare, he wrote mainly about prose. As a result, he could satisfy hiw own curiosities, he could satisfy his own curiosities, he could let a point go once he had made it, and he was not tempted to build a defence for his poetry. He was one of the most pleasurable and enlightening critics to read. A hundred times at Book Review conferences his name was suggested for an assignmentl there didn't seem to be anything we didn;t want him for. But he had only one left hand; it worked for other publications, too, for book publishers, friends. So an editor, in response to a demand for the best writer, would say, tentatively "Auden?" "Try him," and sometimes we'd get him. When we did we were never sorry, and the week we printed the piece we felt the issue was all right. He said once, "Any conscientious critic who has ever had to review a new volume of poetry in a limited space knows that the only fair thing to do would be to give a series of quotations without comment," and perhaps the only fair thing to do about Auden the critic is to give a series of quotations without further comment. The following comes from the prologue to "The Dyer's Hand" (Random House. Cloth $10. Paper, $2.45.) CHARLES SIMMONS Our judgment of an established authpr is never simply an aesthetic judgment. In addition to any liteary merit it may have, a new book by him has a historic interest for us as the act of a person in whom we have long been interested. He is not only a poet or a novelist; he is also a character in our biography. Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible. If good literary critics are rarer than good poets or novelists, one reason is the nature of human egoism. A poet or novelist has to learn to be humble in the face of his subject matter, which is life in general. But the subject matter of a critic, before which he has to learn to be humble, is made up of authors, that is to say, human individuals, and this kind of huility is much more difficult to acquire. It is far easier to say - "Life is more important than anything I can say about it" - than to say - "Mr. A's work is more important than anything I can say about it." Authors can be stupid enough, God knows, but they are not always quite so stupid as a certain kind of critic seems to think. The kind of critic, I mean, to whom, when he condemns a work or a passage, the possibility never occurs that its author may have foreseen exactly what he is going to say. Some books are deservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered. No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who has ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted. The degree of excitement which a writer feels during the process of composition is as much as indication of the value of the final result as the excitement felt by a worshiper is an indication of the value of his devotions, that is to say, very little indication. Sincerity is like sleep. Normally, one should assume that, of course, one will be sincere, and not give the question a second thought. Most writers, however, suffer occasionally from bouts of insincereity as men do from bouts of insomnia.The rememdy in both cases is often quite simple: in the case of the latter, to change one's diet, in the case of the former, to change one's company. The most painful of all experiences to a poet is to find that a poem of his which he knows to be a forgery has pleased the public and got into the anthologies. For all he knows or cares, the poem may be quite good, but that is not the point; he should not have written it. For every writer, there are certain subjects which, because of defects in his character and his talent, he should never touch. The integrity of a writer is more threatened by appeals to his social conscience, his positical or religious convictions, than by appeals to his cupidity. It is morally less confusing to be goosed by a traveling salesman than by a bishop. Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about. There is a certain kind of person who is so dominated by the desire to be loved for himself alone that he has constantly to test those around him by tiresome behavior; what he says and does must be admired, not because it is intrinsically admirable, but because it is his remark, his act. Does not this explain a good deal of avant-garde art? The greatest writer cannot see through a brick wall but, unlike the rest of us, he does not build one. Only a minor talent can be a perfect gentleman; a major takent is always more than a bit of a cad. Hence the importance of minor writers - as teachers of good manners. Now and again, an exquisite minor work can make a master feel thoroughly ashamed of himself. "The unacknowledged legislators of the world" describes the secret police, not the poets.

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