PAGE FOUR
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
S2',fP.'taP i Lt2,,12)
Music and M iusicians
0.RLANDO I3EZDE
'- are two (isti iiltd oisill (issz ~rc1'y> e'11dhrt ft in it incrrc t s'iiii', it K t }
011!?i. of i thatI ii ill 1 1 i ii e-(otok i pitlace 'oni tlep
(cccist reetii, n £Vc' ,v ,,rain. 't tfor 5GalliCutitito tOtt iii1tt
l linthe te ie River' (.11tohes)te sasprp iriis as
is tiosh ittilt i ni (iIll!.l's tyn" t fe t a'iii ii.
s;1tad 'Iocy itegraing tti ub-S11'iHts ;1}() nod out11(
t 1e on sthot, were sli to tolelv- II ( iriiith nsi' le''i tij1,
the tle tn uileorits a fewi lit the 11aivety. ToIan suerliithereCiis ic
1:-i onts noit ionty o a igte~ttihir-likethe'-tthere i ni voice like ciii--
iii eltalo f rittircs aae,' ti ' jti ty Etn':. hesig iP iiChhe!i-0i
ov1>i ss'tiik eatly as bitg aiit asf11 siit~n t iiiiii"ore1st;ibitii r
t1e signg ''onse's t1til Six's' nci'tiveSpanttisth stiedoes ties'trt. Stii
'S n "t-n teeri'). Iiiitcr, sthe'i5 a is the veri' siricof S :)il ther: ott.
i=( ' Imiptracticait pei'ssin t(a tiust acc llis s t1re Olin t i ' c ilhi i 'C
iiiilsanii iiitulse' wh'iiiare n ts ivlg )ittottseC. iotheeyiare i iii et citirety
t n et iti t io ci aaytrol~ ~i 0 "Robin istuit, 1,10510 uts teI)AII the 01utY
Adtair" (unitothuers)t Spanish roniposer 5-who seen iis at att
sthralyoy-loWudatlltthuhil.Ocsoala ol te taste of teart io i aig to si it t a Lion ior Fltte i lill ttt tahoeinto I'li-
tatle sith ca napin ariounil its ne'ik .hatppiness, but'ii 5 scond10it istoba1ck
and to obitain ite nouriotsient in that. to terrific visacity, and it is this that
fashion? The answer is qluie evidet.t Gatli-Cuici singe the bsot. The Itatisan
Yet, seiil thits nolt he 0 most as- songs on the pirogranmserre altlswelt
toin asisedsanre in the' rivilizatiun sit rhosen to suit her style, and nohody
pitge? Ag~ain thsere tis150ielosht as tel csn sing them as susperblty, with eacth
thle reply.'Ptn hose unliscoans it abs:olutlylt unique andsIpalleting teci-
Nvnl beiit an md lies"horribily basaosenique. Bt ntto the Ithoughtful mnid
to make a pig to sit ssith a hits, or to gaiety is not as tong-lasting as inter-
softer as ciow' to repose in a cribs. ity;soil so, permait nie tIstalte that
Hence, civilization is biarbairity; en Galli-Corni appeals onlyt to thosse
one han toscrrrsit Galli-Curri with tsr- swhose lives sreeconmsmnplcr--thsec
ing at least hssuane.,wsosdo not think thisigs bestltsr the
Trho lovely soptrano ic que'stion {lissfullt ises of the hictitaen-, esnsi
seeissentirety igno'rant ofitheili" tthose 'who cre neither Etiti orisminhr
thti se is in no sensteis Lilly Lssesan anything else bsut siniply stanid anid
tetirrim a Spesnis lose song soil esgaeoransI acetwt slcomieseinsd tson't
Pee ochier' o 01 sttii slitbllytvinsert- worry abiot whas~t dosnssoi't.
ti ' iiit, l lr1:_ ?
" iini t "'lI1
'1'1 y c { t~ I zot ;c t~ C1;I i .i l
fa it "',"1 i it''I ot'
s' i: C I '.l
t I ttix 11"So
C11. : I ~ i :1 ' 1r iisc:lit cc its'-
and '1 y s'oroiar's,' sn the eipotenst'
nItit insigncis'ian'e sit cure loin.
I ts rokis ''not the ons' to acep~t the
sisetrilis'osithn Sttuserti:hel thtesll~
lice gresta i ost ouces cfshuancmsery are
largely' conquerabtrle bylhumncrare
omnd 4effort.Fir atllhisi hilghtspirit essi
gius, isirsirtisis i, in a cosmic sense,
oft esslancshssly tempcteramient. As he
seeo it, alt grsatworsekosf lite'rature
dialwihilsfailisres, oast alt honest hil-
ossophtiecl systesare tpessimlistic. lHe
tlearly undesitanesithe narrosvlinmi-
tattoos of humanis opswer ansI the fu-'
tility sif effort bseyond tlsese limitis.
Bt nthlousgh Mencken is a pessimist,
hse is no itle sreamer, Rathser is hr
a man1 1of actio: lie Rooseselt of our
litrrsr critics, thse Billy Siunsday of
or satirioss It is only lts conscious-
an i-ot
In a v ,ry eal s is
. ri hvdstril hut sitf1ietai
lii iswhitat '1i sicineiithe lite rary'
criici' To :'ay'thiat tseisnot sascrittc
is impy o h ;e' oser a ciatter' si
iofii in Lii'111 ihibess'r, he ois t to"
1 1 esItdin the iisrrcatailogueiog inst
chicwork of rcltogrthetr. Nor is
he'c clii' ll te lit'ycsanyitch to improve
the ind or dv re tiec"urci ofn"t"ile
codthe r sectndthe lbcleatist,'"
liis nloiii, s ('icordsingtoIIhii'sill-hi con-
fesston,is seth itfthe'crtiet, lore asci
simptle. It is the dcis.'tiofuctisnion
frieyti otloiit(1o100s0own ideasO, lto
maiekr 1 articltenoiseinrtce iworldt.
In 1iIi'ncten'o liandis, criticismss(it
lts the 1crossrrct. lemit ssatisn Itakes
on wii'asrith, lift, tpersosnality. ''triti-
ricis is a fise art or it is nothcing."
'To rriticize is to htencks'nize. In a
sicrut, it is imcpre'nscsiim. No dlosbtt
lts, attistue tractsthe critic intco mast'
errcrs. 'Welt, sshat of it? "The sort
of criticis I detest ansi try Io assist,"
tie say's, "is Itatswichrt pretenseto he
reclentlessly judlicious." 'VIith rcarar-
terisicir scepticisms, Mencken would
siscresdit alt attemts at so-caslled~
(C'ontiniuedi on Page Seven)
-11ENitKEN
tt'ontinusesd fronmPage GOe
crlint 11eiswek~nesses of or tisne
cost place. ?tsccks'n imserlf would
hove us Ibelieverthat l ts lbsinensito
playsincg Fore'is hcut thceitle passtimec
of thc'-lhour. "I scm entirelysd'evsot it
pulic spirit," h~ewsoldsa sy. "I ems-
tertain nos messianic sdelusions: it sim-
ply delighctos me to chcase uisunte-
hints cot so I oiccasonllty yield to
the vice." No doubht this is partly
true, ioncken, like all of us, is some-
thing of a hcesdonist, ansI witch-hunt'
togs, pogromsndos inquisitions are
stilt the favorite sdivertisemnents of thce
humsan animcal.flat in Iis lond whoopst-
loge and ifierce sdenunciatiocns--ot-
aithlstanding his insistent proteeta-
lions Is the cotrary-theire arc' niche
i~rons vestiges of resentment ansI un-
qusestionahle signs if notch'rcage.
"The very too-msuchnsns of his tro-
Icst-hog classifies stoc" In his Conrasd
essay, for examcple, see catch titu in-
trodocing, at the risk of all fosrmstansi
artisty, his inevitahle diatrihe on the
shoddiness of the natiosnal cultire andI
the depravity of our current literature,
This jeremiasd, in fact, is tlue chorus,
theme, and costa of all his writing,!
He finds These Stsstes dropsical with
morals, uplift, ancd paternalisms.lHe
sees the art of letters prostituted to
the level of the proletariat, and the
ignorance, superstitions, and credu-
lity of the great msasses of our people
pilayedut pon tby preposterous mcounte-
hanks and rantintgl demagogues. And
eo withs a merry "Whuat-Ho." he is}
off to the chtase.
And then thsere is his style?-ai style'
whtich its no way argues a casltisandu
indifferent disposition, It savors as'
muichs si the strict and matcrkettsces
as of the study. The truth is that
,ttentken, depite Iis ssphistication,
has none of that epicurean taaindoi
Htoratian reserve of tie true sceptic,
Though lte may agree with Henry
Adams that life is horrihle and mean-
ingless, hie shows very little of the
latter's cynical indifference and arts-
tocratic aloofness,
Of course one must not push this'
indignation-motif too far. Mencken
is hedonist as well as Puritan, hum-
anist as well as moralist, Here again
tthe tparadoux. In htutu Iluttceto'clt',d
Ih la-sagJo Iistorugges'for soprctscs\'
Ha~ppily, hosreve r,'tNTrsiske'c'ptsritao_-
inmhas seen samceliorasst e'ycahuitu-
asne atndiforeign cutture, ansiti hitnmr-
alit?' tempesre'dtby acfrank acndt shame-
less hedonism,
In general there are twosclases
of sceptics. Otne tsserast, sasy-gisn
ones, such as Renans and Anatole
France-rharming, pol1i1e, urlane,ds-
trustful even sit their own "trths";
and fte toss consistent,tint moosr its-
sistent ones, such as Nietzscher sou
tLultr-loust, vehcemsent, ansI Puuitan-
icasl. It is because "Mlencken, tile
George IBernarsd Shca', vacillates lie-
tween these two extrees thaet sine is
not always sure just how seriosliy
to taske him. Of course, agssin like
Shasw, ice isi constantly giving ltinset,;
away; lie is forever pilaying peek-a-
lion, as it aere, fromcbhhind hits mask.
Sonmeone once referred to Mencken
as the "civilizesd consciousness cit
Modern Amierica." Modsern Amterica!
'rhe Uotted States!-w'iom II. G.
Wells has characterizedt as "a sass,
garrulous sod prosperous female of
uncertain age and still store uncertain
tensper, with unfounded pretensions
to intellectuality and an ideal of re-
finement of the mst negative des-
cription. the Aunt Errant of
('Christendonm." Is it any wnonsder that
this Modern Anmerica, this Aunt Er'
rant of tChristendosn, should have
hrought forth such a creature as
Mcenken-a changeling a-ho ducks at
his very shadowe, aho squirmis ansI
twists as a schsoolbsoy, and ails, in hits
very cointortions, symbiolizes the iso-
be(cilities, childish inconsisten'cies, sod
as yst confusced struggles andi aspira-
tlis sit a natison iii travail, A erie'
slut to hits generation is thin Mencken,
this curiously intelligent child of a
curiusly- unintelligent miother-scou
a destroyer of shamos, ansd the psrophet
of asn intllectuaol aristocracv.
Sonsetimes one awoders just how
ceep is lice love of this god-given and
rehellious mutant for his strange half-;
civilized mother, One cannot helieve
that here there are no genuine honda
of interest: there are too many con-
tra-indications, -Just how far dare
one tear .off the, mask? One even sue-
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than satisfied
. with the food
and service
at
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338 Maynard St. South of Majestic
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