Writers & Politics: Essays And Criticisms
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
At the volatile intersection of literature and political power, Conor Cruise O'Brien's Writers & Politics stands as a landmark collection of essays that refuses to separate the life of the mind from the life of the state. The Irish diplomat, historian, and critic trains his formidable intellect on a remarkable cast of twentieth-century literary figures — from Baldwin, Orwell, and Camus to Yeats, Synge, Joyce, and Sartre — dissecting the ways in which their art was shaped by, and in turn shaped, the political currents of their era. O'Brien also turns his gaze toward institutions and ideologies, scrutinizing the United Nations, anti-communism, and the fraught case of Whittaker Chambers with the same unflinching rigour he applies to literature. What distinguishes this collection is O'Brien's rare capacity to write as both an insider — a man who has wielded political power himself — and as a literary critic of the highest order, producing prose that is lucid, combative, and intellectually alive on every page. Originally published in 1965, the volume remains a touchstone for anyone grappling with the question of whether a writer can ever truly stand apart from the political world. In an age still debating the responsibilities of the intellectual, O'Brien's arguments feel not merely relevant but urgent — a challenge to every reader who has ever believed that art exists in a realm beyond consequence.
Author: Conor Cruise O'Brien
Format: Paperback
Genre: Essays
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
At the volatile intersection of literature and political power, Conor Cruise O'Brien's Writers & Politics stands as a landmark collection of essays that refuses to separate the life of the mind from the life of the state. The Irish diplomat, historian, and critic trains his formidable intellect on a remarkable cast of twentieth-century literary figures — from Baldwin, Orwell, and Camus to Yeats, Synge, Joyce, and Sartre — dissecting the ways in which their art was shaped by, and in turn shaped, the political currents of their era. O'Brien also turns his gaze toward institutions and ideologies, scrutinizing the United Nations, anti-communism, and the fraught case of Whittaker Chambers with the same unflinching rigour he applies to literature. What distinguishes this collection is O'Brien's rare capacity to write as both an insider — a man who has wielded political power himself — and as a literary critic of the highest order, producing prose that is lucid, combative, and intellectually alive on every page. Originally published in 1965, the volume remains a touchstone for anyone grappling with the question of whether a writer can ever truly stand apart from the political world. In an age still debating the responsibilities of the intellectual, O'Brien's arguments feel not merely relevant but urgent — a challenge to every reader who has ever believed that art exists in a realm beyond consequence.