Helen Andrews

African literature has done a great deal to form the conventional wisdom about the cultural side of colonialism, that conventional wisdom being that African societies used to be communitarian, spiritual, and close to nature, but then these virtues were eroded by contact with the individualistic, . . . . Continue Reading »

Yumiko Kurahashi’s The Adventures of Sumiyakist Q (1969) is unlike any anti-Communist novel I have ever read, probably because it is a surrealist Japanese satire of Communism written by a female author, and there is reason to assume it is the only such book in existence. That pile of . . . . Continue Reading »

People who are genuinely concerned about having to face an apocalyptic scenario in their own lifetimes generally fall into one of a few categories. There are evangelical Christians anticipating the Rapture. There are foreign-policy paranoiacs who foresee nuclear war. And there are the . . . . Continue Reading »

Our old friend Ben Hecht has agreed to appear before a literary society in a debate with his friend Maxwell Bodenheim: When the evening arrived, Hecht walked to the foot of the stage and announced that the topic of debate would be—“Resolved: That people who attend literary debates are . . . . Continue Reading »

A story of old Irish hero Daniel O’Connell, quoted in Sean O’Faolain’s biography : I remember I was once counsel before Judge Day for a man who had stolen some goats. The fact was proved; whereupon I produced to old Day an old Act of Parliament, empowering the owners of . . . . Continue Reading »

From Men and Wives by Ivy Compton-Burnett: “Well, my Harriet. Well, my dear, I heard you talking in a way that reminded me of our youth. I said to myself, ‘Why, there is my Harriet chattering like a girl!’ This is a brave morning for you.” “Godfrey,” said . . . . Continue Reading »

Dr. Malherbe of Natal University said to Field Marshal Smuts as he left a political meeting, “Why were those two hecklers at the back so bitterly hostile?” Smuts replied, “I understand the feelings of one of them very well indeed. He and I were brought up together in the same . . . . Continue Reading »

Never reach for a grand explanation when a simpler one will do, and when your explanation is to blame the Puritans, you can be pretty certain there’s a simpler option available. Rebecca Solnit is frustrated that so many liberals are letting occasional policy disagreements blind them to the . . . . Continue Reading »

The most well-known paradox of liberal and conservative temperaments is that humanitarians tend to be moved by mankind in the abstract but callous or even cruel to individual men, while many reactionaries and misanthropes are noted for their private generosity. Other such paradoxes include the . . . . Continue Reading »

From Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters : My impression of Republicans, after living among them as an interested and sympathetic observer for almost two years, [is that] as a group you have almost no confidence that any serious thinker could be with you on any issue of consequence. . . . . Continue Reading »