I very much doubt that people turn to CM for links or quotes on the topic du jure. That is just not the kind of content I supply. But have a suspicion that readers of this blog probably don’t read National Review Online’s The Corner quite as much as I do.
So I thought it might be useful to capture some conservative commentary on the passing of John Updike as readers might not have caught these comments on a political blog.
I just learned that one of America’s greatest writers—ever—died this morning at 76. He was a joy to read, and will be much missed. He integrated his religious faith into his work in such a way that he imbued even the most secular subjects with “the motions of grace.” He also loved this country, and found a way to say so that reached even many who were uncomfortable with more conventional displays of patriotism. R.I.P.
In his novels, he was a master of precision and the mot juste, descriptions of ordinary things so vivid that you seemed to see them for the first time. He understood how ordinary life could give way to moments of sudden violence and tragedy and his books often contained a climactic scene of horror that arose out of the quotidian with an inevitability you only understood in the aftermath. One of his latest novels, Terrorist, brought his understanding of American life and the human condition to bear on our current troubles and presented a rich vision of the complexities of both assimilation and redemption. For me personally, I’m sad to see one of the last of the Big Novelists go, a breed that for now at least seems to be dying out forever. He was the lonely WASP among that generation of brilliant post-war Jews and semi-Jews—Mailer, Bellow, and Roth. The passing of their generation leaves us with too many movies, TV shows, and YouTube videos and not enough really good books. When images take precedence over words, I can’t help feeling that both thought and feeling ultimately become more shallow.
