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Snow, Leavis and the Two Cultures
The Spectatorthe debate continues William Gerhardi J. D. Scott Dame Edith Sitwell Lord Boothby Stephen Toulmin G. S. Fraser Gavin Ewart anti others
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Portrait of the Week
The SpectatorTHE SEVENTEEN - POWER DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE opened in Geneva, after informal talks between Lord Home (the British Foreign Secretary), Mr. Dean Rusk and Mr. Gromyko. The Soviet...
LA PRESENCE FRANcAISE
The SpectatorA s the Evian talks on the cease-fire in Algeria ..draw to a close,.and the uncertainty narroWs to a question of just how much bloodshed the OAS can bring about before peace is...
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Tests and Tactics
The SpectatorT ia Geneva disarmament conference has opened to the accompaniment of Mr. Gromyko's letter to U Thant and of more Russian activity in the Berlin air corridors. The proposals...
The Reluctant Apparatchiks
The SpectatorC OVIET agriculture is not faced with any new A./crisis. So far Mr. Khrushchev is right. It is simply in the same critical state that has afflicted it since 1930. There have...
We Know What We Like
The SpectatorTill: fuss about the Royal Academy's decision 1 to sell its Leonardo is, as these fusses usual]: am largely composed of cant. Particularly en joyable is the spectacle of the...
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The Price of Peace
The SpectatorS ow: letters we have received from supporters of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (couched for a welcome change in quiet and reasonable terms) ask us to say why we believe,...
A War Ending
The SpectatorFrom DARSIE GILLIE PARIS r i" HE seven-year Algerian war may be over when this is in print; a war without any battle above the level of a skirmish, a war that the French have...
Failure of Loyalty
The SpectatorT HE battle which has been carried on over Dr. Kroll, West German ambassador in Moscow, seems to have ended in a draw. On the one hand, Dr. Kroll is to be withdrawn from his...
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The Goldwater Show
The SpectatorFrom MURRAY KEMPTON NEW YORK T tlIS city remains the national centre for trade fairs. The annual appearances of United States Senator Barry Goldwater as em- bodiment of the...
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Oil and the French Economy
The SpectatorBy RICHARD BAILEY I F the discussions on the possible entry of Britain into the Common Market have done nothing else they have made us much more aware of what goes on across the...
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SIR CHARLES SNOW, DR. F. R. LEAVIS, AND THE TWO
The SpectatorCULTURES The reaction to our publication last week of ihe full text of Dr. Leavis's Richmond lecture was quick and copious. We publish below a small sample. It will be...
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DAME EDITH SITWELL I read with an entire lack of
The Spectatorinterest, but some surprise, Dr. F. R. Leavis's non-stop and male- volent attack on Sir Charles Snow in your last issue. I read to the end of this attack solely because I could...
J. D. SCOTT 'Strange, how desire doth outrun performance' —as
The SpectatorBeetle quoted after being flogged by Mr. King. C. P. Snow might quote with him: Dr. Leavis's stereotyped lunges of anti-Americanism, hi3 little bits of gossip, half-catty and...
LORD BOOTHBY It is fascinating to learn from Dr. Leavis
The Spectatorthat he made T. S. Eliot a key figure, and D. H. Lawrence a great writer. In the Twenties some of us foolishly imagined that they did it for themselves. It would be interesting...
SUSAN HILL I feel that so many obvious flaws in
The SpectatorF. R. Leavis's lecture on C. P. Snow ought not to pass unnoticed. No doubt Leavis would apply a simi- lar sort of criticism to a student's essay. 1. Leavis values criticism as...
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DENIS LANT Dr. Leavis's lecture has had at least one
The Spectatorresult which I don't think he can have intended. Without it I would certainly have thought C. P. Snow's picture of the pettiness, abuse and violence which could be found within...
STEPHEN TOULMIN The spectacle of the Sage of Downing pelting
The SpectatorC. P. Snow with coke is in itself merely undig- nified, and perhaps one should' ignore it. True: there is much in Dr. Leavis's Richmond Lecture to which even a third party can...
ANTHONY STORR Dr. Leavis's outburst against C. P. Snow will
The Spectatorsurely evoke almost as many counter-attacks upon himself as would gratify him. I will there- fore confine myself to one small point. Dr. Leavis says: 'That he has really been a...
G. REICHARDT Had I been one of those invited to
The Spectatorattend Dr. Leavis's essay in self-expression, the point whereat my morale would have broken down was when he accused Sir Charles of 'repetitious- ness.' Thereafter, given a...
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GAVIN EWART When I was an undergraduate at Cambridge (1934-37)
The SpectatorDr. Leavis was my English Super- visor, and I had rooms directly below Dr. Snow in Christ's College. Contrary to what one might expect, I found Dr. Snow (whom I knew socially...
G. 'S. FRASER Somebody might as well stick his neck
The Spectatorout. Dr. Leavis's lecture on C. P. Snow is one of thz greatest rhetorical performances I have ever read, for mounting splendour of scornful irony and of rage benignly laughing...
M. S. DEOL The myth of Snow, the great thinker,
The Spectatoris not the only one to reach us from Cambridge of late. There is also the myth of Leavis, the great critic. If one is the product of Sunday papers, the other is the creation of...
RONALD MILLAR Leavis on Snow is the boomerang of the
The Spectatoryear. The splenetic doctor's attempt at professional assassination is so ludicrou , l!, overdone as to be laughable. The original leak of provocative snippets was full of...
SIR OLIVER SCOTT Mr. Leavis writes: 'But it is basic
The Spectatorcliché—more damagingly, for Snow's pretensions, cliché than the kind of thing I instanced first, for it dismisses the issue, tacitly eliminates the problem, discussion of which...
ARNOLD L. HASKELL Dr. Leavis's lecture, given its full text
The Spectatorin your last issue, is a demonstration of ill-mannered, self-centred and destructive adolescent behaviour that will surely be of interest to the psychologist. The whole lecture...
C. R. 0. JONES I have no special admiration for
The SpectatorSir Charles Snow; but my reaction to DI. Leavis's lecture must have been shared by many. How can a man able to write: `The judgment I have to come out with is that not only is...
PETER JAI' A man may be ignorant of history and
The Spectatorslip- shod in his mode of expression, as C. P. Snow often is, and yet be able to state an important truth, while another may display vast learning and great powers of analysis,...
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Prof. Dr. M. J. Langeveld The Two Cultures? F. R.
The SpectatorLeavis Lady Chatterley's Lover The Warden of All Souls Nuclear Testing Peter Brown Love ol Liberty? L. M. Hopkins 'The Historical Novel' Martin Eve A Coldstream Painting Philip...
SIR.---1 read the Spectator as one of my sources of
The Spectatorinformation about England. I do not read it to be informed about Sweden. Quite a number of people wrote letters to tell Mr. Fennell that he was wrong and rude. Stir., I invite...
THE TWO CULTURES?
The Spectatoram told that my Richmond Lecture which you printed last week, may continue for a while to get some critical attention, so I shall be grateful if you will allow me to correct...
LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
The SpectatorSIR. — In my Encounter article I put forward a certain interpretation of an episode in Lady Chatter ley's Lover. The main burden of Mr. Levin's criticism is that this...
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A COLDSTREAM PAINTING
The SpectatorSIR,—May I encroach on the hospitality of your columns to seek the whereabouts of a painting by William Coldstream called The Lion House painted in 1928. It was exhibited at the...
GEORGIAN BATH Sta,—During recent weeks considerable interest has been aroused
The Spectatorin No. 5 Beauford Square, the so- called 'Christmas card house,' which is threatened, with demolition to make way for a block of fiats. This Trust has endeavoured to speak for...
LOVE OF LIBERTY?
The SpectatorSIR,—Delegates to the Spanish trades union congress in Madrid heard General Franco deny dictatorship and affirm that 'we love liberty more than any other nation.' Will the...
'THE -HISTORICAL NOVEL'
The SpectatorSIR,—May I answer the question raised by your reviewer in the thoughtful and sympathetic notice of The Historical Novel? The reason why 'the first German edition of 1955 and our...
ECA DE QUEIROZ
The SpectatorSIR,—May I point out an unfortunate misstatement made by Miss Olivia Manning in her review of three novels under the heading Seducer in a Soutane in your issue of March 2, Miss...
NUCLEAR TESTING
The SpectatorSIR,—Those like Mr. R. A. Walker who are looking fOr a credible argument for the resumption of nuclear tests and who do not see the New York Times will be interested in the one...
CEREBRATION
The SpectatorSIR,—In your issue of March 9 Hugh Graham writes: 'More than any of the older artists represented in this show (Gris, Leger, Picasso, Klee, Miro) his [Jaques Villon's] aims...
THE WEN
The SpectatorSta,—Believing implicitly as 1 do that (a) purely architecturally, London is one of the ugliest cities in the world; (b) 'the Metropolis' and 'Home Counties' are about the most...
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Records
The SpectatorOutward Bound By JOHN HALE IN contrast to their superb King Lear, the Marlowe Society's latest recordings, Henry V and • Cymbeline (Argo, four records each) will only be of...
Theatre
The SpectatorLost Secret By BAMBER GASCOIGNE The Secret of the World. (Theatre Royal, Stratford E.) THE first act of Ted Allan's The Secret of the World is about a man called Sam Alexander...
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Television
The SpectatorPoor Old George By MORDECAI RICHLER Struck off, listed as a 'dramatised documentary' in the Radio Times, was neither drama nor documentary. It was a melodrama. Written by John...
Cinema
The SpectatorFrom the Chastity Belt By ISABEL QUICLY The Devil Never Sleeps. (Carl- ton.)—Walk on the Wild Side. (Columbia.) THIS was cliché-week in the cinema, making you wonder how...
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An Answer
The SpectatorRepair your struck senses Within the limit of memory. Return the strict laws And comparisons. Once let Shot nerve ends dictate A future and you've had it. Talk I not unwisely...
BOOKS
The SpectatorHall of Fame By I H. PLUMB T HERE are still two nations, not so distinct now in clothes, accent and divergence of income as they were in Disraeli's day but still utterly...
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No Milk or Honey
The SpectatorA DECADE and a half can perhaps be re g arded n as the opportune time for one who was inti- mately concer ned with the epic of the sie g e of Jerusalem, in 1947-49, to sit down...
Horse-Collar Capitalism
The SpectatorRECENT work on the history of technolo g y has made it once more respectable to explain vast social chan g es in terms of specific inventions. It is true that we no lon g er...
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Strap-Hanging
The Spectator'ONE night through the partition I overheard a conversation between my parents. . . . "The boy's mental development is somewhat lagging behind his physical one." "What?" cried...
Dear Diary
The SpectatorThe Londoner. By Tudor Jenkins. (MacGibbon and Kee, 21 8.) IN the past five years there have been three Paul Tanfields, four Henry Fie'dings, four Penden- nises, four Atticuses,...
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Complete Historian
The SpectatorThe French Revolution. By Georges Lefebvre. Translated by Elizabeth Moss Evanson. (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 35s.) ONE of the last papers ever given by Georges Lefebvre was...
Political Thriller
The SpectatorAshes and Diamonds. By George Andrzeyevski. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 18s.) IN Poland the novel as we know it has never really been the dominant form. There are many reasons...
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Eighteenth-Century Pops
The SpectatorTHIS is a reprint of a book first published in 1932, and anyone who has the faintest interest in the history of English literature and who missed it on its first appearance...
Not So Simple
The SpectatorThe Foot of Clive. By John Berger. (Methuen, I8s.) SIMPLICITY, they used to tell me at school, is the greatest of the literary virtues. Never use a long word where a short one...
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Spring Fever in HP
The SpectatorBy NICHOLAS DAVENPORT We all know how it started. In the middle of 1958 the then Chancellor (Mr. Amory) removed the restrictions upon bank lending and the joint stock banks...
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Investment Notes
The SpectatorBy CUSTOS A LL those who disliked Mr. Chambers's ..aggressive take-over bidding will be de- lighted that ict only obtained 371 per cent. of COURTAULDS. In spite of the big...
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Thought for Food
The SpectatorToo Much Zeal By ELIZABETH DAVID SOME nine years ago, when I was contributing cookery articles to liar- per's Bazaar, I wrote a piece tlealing with the adaptation, to the cir-...
Company Notes
The SpectatorB RITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO produces a finely illustrated report for the year ended September 30, 1961, which has proved to be the best year in this great company's history. The...
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Consuming Interest
The SpectatorAt Last By LESLIE ADRIAN THERE may be, as Falstaff believed, a divinity in odd numbers, but there is nothing but hell or expense in odd feet. In an age when `no one can think...
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Postscript • •
The Spectator.0Nu, long ago, during the war, was acting number two for a time to the then London editor of the Manchester • Guardian. An agency message brought the news that Alan Moorehead...