----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 8:39
AM
Subject: Re: Obama on Eliot
Sorry, Tim, had to
clock into my afternoon job. I'm sure you've got his age now from the links
posted, for which thanks to you and Rick. As a good graduate student's effort
might be expected to, Obama's reading affects to outdistance its actual reach
and is, as noticed, inflated and cliched. But still it's based in some serious
consideration, more interesting I think for its reflection on Obama than on
Eliot. Which is not a criticism, just an observation of where its better value
lies. On Eliot I think Brooker is right about the supposed "reactionary
dichotomy," TSE exhibits, though I do like Obama's distinction regarding types
of conservatives and bourgeois liberalism.
I wonder how many
other presidents gave that much attention to studying TSE, in or out of grad
school?
Ken A
On 5/4/2012 3:29 PM, Materer,
Timothy J. wrote:
[log in to unmask]
type="cite">On May 4, 2012, at 1:45 PM, Ken Armstrong wrote:
Fascinating. Any idea which reactionary dichotomy is intended?
there’s a certain kind of conservatism which I respect more than bourgeois liberalism—Eliot is of this type. Of course, the dichotomy he maintains is reactionary, but it’s due to a deep fatalism, not ignorance.
The whole comment strikes me as quite intelligent even though he's working with the cliches of the time. (Ken, what's the date?) His comment on conservatism seem fair since he seems to mean that Eliot's conservatism was principled and not simply a desire to protect the prosperity of the upper middle.