Volume 9, Number 2 · August 3, 1967
Old Men Remember
By A.J.P. Taylor
Acquaintances
by Arnold J. Toynbee
Oxford, 328 pp., $7.50
Variety of Men
by C.P. Snow
Scribner's, 220 pp., $5.95
It is said that there is one book in every man—the book about himself and his experiences. To judge by the state of the book market, this saying appears to be true. Everyone now writes his autobiography, from retired politicians and generals to barkeepers and more or less reformed criminals. The book is there all right. Whether it satisfies any need except our curiosity to peer into the house next door is a different matter. The politicians are a dreary lot, and strangely enough, literary men are often as bad. Contrary to a widely received opinion, writing is not something which can be picked up late in life. Nor is it a general accomplishment which can be switched from one branch to another. Autobiography and reminiscence are specific arts which demand special qualities and usually a single-minded devotion. The autobiographer has both to believe himself interesting and to be justified in his belief. The rememberer on the other hand must have a genuine conviction that the people whom he meets are more interesting than he is. He does not need to suppress his own personality. It is indeed an essential part of the story, but it must be used to illuminate others, not himself.
Review, 2145 words
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