What’s the Worst (Supposedly Great) Conservative Book?
Posted on June 25th, 2009
by George Hawley |
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Back when began what I (mistakenly) believed was my life-long career as a typical Republican partisan, I made it a point to read all of those books deemed conservative “classics.” In fact, my main complaint about my fellow Beltway Republicans was their lack of interest in reading books without a radio talk-show host’s picture on the cover. “How can you want to dedicate your life to advancing conservatism, but not want to read conservatism’s founding texts?” I frequently asked.
When I started to grow skeptical of the mainstream conservative movement as represented by figures such as Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich, I began blaming our problems on the contemporary Right’s failure to know its own intellectual history. To a certain extent, I still stick by that assessment; we would be better off if more conservatives took the time to read books. I am nonetheless no longer sure that reading those supposedly-brilliant conservative books from the post-war era is particularly productive.
Don’t get me wrong, some of those books have stood the test of time and deserve to be read and reread. Reading Witness by Whitaker Chambers as an undergrad was one of the most satisfying literary experiences of my life. I also expect my admiration for writers such as Richard Weaver and Robert Nisbet to remain undiminished for the rest of my life.
Still, the fact that a “conservative” book is a few decades old does not necessarily mean that every contemporary conservative or libertarian will gain something by reading it. In my spare moments these past few years I took some time to revisit several of the books I used to thoughtlessly tell my colleagues they should read. I am now embarrassed by a few of those recommendations.
I have a question for my fellow PostRighters: what is the worst “classic” of the conservative canon? I am interested to hear your nominations. The only rule is that it has to be more then 40-years old and it has to be by an author that a reasonably-literate conservative would remember and recognize.
If I had to pick, the worst book from that period was Frank Meyer’s In Defense of Freedom (a runner-up would be The American Cause by Russell Kirk, though I generally think Kirk was an OK guy). Reading it now, I am amazed that the most celebrated champion of “fusionism” was such an insipid writer. I am particularly dumbfounded by this realization given that, as a cultural conservative who embraces libertarian policies, I guess I am supposed to think Meyer was great. To be fair, his apparent triteness is probably related to how frequently his work has been copied in the subsequent decades. Still, of all the books on the “conservative canon” section of my shelf, this is the one I most regret buying.
Does anyone have any other nominations?
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I too have always found Meyer’s book … underwhelming. Perhaps his background as a Communist Party organizer predisposed him to write a rather lifeless ideological manifesto. Meyer had a great eye for talent as a literary editor and was actually a very learned man, but I’d agree In Defense of Freedom doesn’t live up to its reputation.
The edition of Kirk’s American Cause that’s in print now is an edited version prepared for the age of the War on Terror. The book was originally written as a tract for the Korean War. I haven’t read the original, but I get the impression that if such a thing were being written today, it would be a blog post rather than a book.
My nominee for worst conservative classic, though, is Paul Johnson’s Intellectuals, an argumentum ad hominem writ large. At least Johnson could still write when he penned that — Intellectuals is intellectually poor, but Creators is sheer drivel. James Bowman’s evisceration of the latter in TAC was a masterpiece, one of the best reviews I commissioned during my tenure as literary editor.
I’d throw in The True Believer for what its worth… Hoffman’s lifestory is definitely very cool but the book strikes me as having too much psychological caricature and too little historical causation for my tastes…
I can only find the last page of Bowman’s Intellectuals review online.
People who enjoyed that might also like TAC contributor Andro Linklater’s review of Johnson’s Heroes in The Spectator last year…
http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/552666/princes-patriots-and-partygivers.thtml
Along with The American Cause, I would also list Kirk’s book the Politics of Prudence. Two rare stinkers, I think, by an author who has influenced my own views quite a bit. I think that Kirk’s major works — The Conservative Mind, The Roots of American Order, Eliot and His Age — are spectaular books. But those two definitely don’t live up to the standard of his major works.
I actually actually thought The Politics of Prudence was pretty good, especially when compared to his other collection of speeches, Redeeming the Time (which I do think was a complete waste of time). It may be unfair, however, to give Kirk very much credit or blame for either of those books.