Volume 47, Number 11 · June 29, 2000
Decline and Fall?
By Roger Shattuck
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present
by Jacques Barzun
HarperCollins, 877 pp., $36.00
'All is true.' In the original edition of Le père Goriot, Balzac left this terse epigraph in English. It is the subtitle or alternate title of Henry VIII, an unfinished play uncertainly attributed to Shakespeare. The epigraph acknowledges Balzac's profound admiration of the Bard. At the same time, it affirms the cumulative and competitive veracity of Balzac's immense fictional universe. But I believe that these three childishly simple words also imply a dilemma.
Review, 5120 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |