|
|
|
Book Review
Canada and the United States
James Turner. The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1999. Pp. xv, 507. $45.00.
|
This is biography in the grand manner and old-fashioned way, and two-thirds of this "life and times" are superbly rendered. It is compellingly and sometimes exquisitely written. James Turner sustains a stance and tone of sympathetic irony that enlivens the material he presents and provides deep and engaging insights into his protagonist. More importantly, the "times" of Norton's "life" are interpreted informatively and with intelligence and imagination. Relatedly, the intellectual and public aspects of Norton are examined in a felicitous and penetrating manner. Norton as a person, however, is more elusive. Since he destroyed much of his private correspondence and was restrained about vetting his personal life and feelings, Turner may have done the best anyone could do. Nevertheless, he might have probed further into the virtually universal generosity, sympathy, and general rectitude that he and Norton's contemporaries attributed to the Boston Brahmin scholar and gentleman. Was he really that unblemished? If so, what were the sources and sustaining forces of this nobility? |
. . . |
There are about 433 more words in this article.
Please log in (or, if you are not yet an
authorized user, please go to the
User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
|