Trump’s GOP has ways of disciplining members who depart from their leader’s talking points. Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon” explains how such pressure works.
Tag Archives: Darkness at Noon
Why Tyrants Hate Laughter
Tuesday In a recent essay on Arthur Koestler’s theory of comedy, the New York Review of Books’ Liesl Schillinger cites a passage from Koestler’s Darkness at Noon to explain Donald Trump’s attacks on Saturday Night Live. In his fictional account of Stalin’s show trials, Koestler shows that authoritarian personalities lack a sense of humor. Loyal […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift", Arthur Koestler, Jonathan Swift, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes Comments closed
The Shutdown, Clancy & Darkness at Noon
Tom Clancy helped create the narrative by which the Tea Party functions. Arthur Koestler may describe John Boehner’s inner state.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arthur Koestler, GOP, governmental shutdown, John Boehner, politics, Tom Clancy Comments closed
Christopher Hitchens, Literary Bully
I confess to bristling when I hear the name Christopher Hitchens.The intellectual provocateur has been in the news recently, first for publishing his memoirs and second for contracting throat cancer.Although he is smart and well read, he has always struck me as a self-righteous intellectual bully, one who is more interested in toppling icons than […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christopher Hitchens, David Brooks, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Hitch-22, How Green Was My Valley, Plato, politics, Republic, Richard Llewellyn, Wilfred Owen Comments closed
