David Profumo
‘A Born Loser’
Jonathan Swift: the brave desponder
By Patrick Reilly
Manchester University Press 287pp £21
Incredulity and the weary snapping open of card-indexes often greet the appearance of yet another weighty book about an already much scrutinised writer – can there really be so much new to say? With Swift, it is different: about his opinions and personality, genuine disagreement has persisted since his own lifetime, and he remains an enigma even to those thoroughly familiar with his works. Beginning with his own unreliable self-representations, filtered through myths about his marriage and his madness, magnified by certain notoriously hostile nineteenth-century writers, the image of Swift that we have today has evidently been subjected to consistent distortion. From serious political thinkers through to the bizarre fringes of psychoanalytical critics, he has fascinated the range of subsequent human intelligence.
Some modern readings of Swift seek to accommodate him into the twentieth century by making him an accessible ‘contemporary’ figure; one such example is A L Rowse’s Jonathan Swift: Major Prophet (1975) where the Dean is cast as a Promethean ‘tragic hero’ whom Rowse nonetheless refers to as ‘Jonathan’. Other
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm