Been reading quite a bit of H.L. Mencken from his ‘Chrestomathy’
collection. What an asshole.
Two of his essays stand out in my mind.
From ‘The politician’:
“If he is a smart and enterprising fellow, which he
usually is, he quickly discovers... that hooey pleases the boobs a great
deal more than sense. Indeed, he finds that sense really disquiets and alarms
them ― that it makes them uncomfortable, or a speck of dust in the eye, or the
thought of Hell. The truth, to the overwhelming majority of mankind, is
indistinguishable from a headache.”
From ‘The critical process’:
“The true aim of a critic is certainly not to make
converts. He must know that very few of the persons who are susceptible to
conversion are worth converting. Their minds are intrinsically flabby and
parasitical, and it is certainly not sound sport to agitate minds of that sort.”
About the latter quote, Mencken contrasts such an
attitude to the idea that critics criticize for the sake of changing minds. He
names the great Henry Hazlitt by name, as exemplifying this other attitude. I’d
have to side with Mencken on this one. A critique has more to do with, and
reveals more about, the critic than the criticized.
I’ve also enjoyed reading Mencken’s snobbish ideas on
music, particularly Beethoven, whom he considers to be the greatest composer in
history (I disagree; even Mencken’s favorite, the ‘Eroica’ symphony, is a
weaker derivative of Mozart’s 39th from 15 years earlier).
And who can top the opening sentence of ‘The
citizen and the state’:
“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives
under.”
2 comments:
I dunno if he was a misanthrope. For me, Mencken is an inspiration. He spoke his mind without any reservations and found joy and humor in criticizing the bullshit of the world. That sounds a lot like Ayn Rand's suggestion for living morally in a corrupt world. Reading him certainly gives me more confidence in the potential of humanity to be rational and good.
Yeah, while his elitism and seeming disregard for human life (e.g. downplaying the Civil War's casualties) disturb me somewhat, I was for the most part ironic about calling him an asshole and misanthrope.
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