Word: paradox
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ARISTOS, by John Fowles. The author of The Collector, a brilliant demonic novel, turns to philosophy. His mentor is ancient Greek Philosopher Heraclitus who also wrote of aristos (the excellent in life), and Fowles shares his love of paradox, his clear-eyed contemplation and, particularly, his eloquence...
...with pimps, thieves and Foreign Legion deserters (Genet had been a legionnaire long enough to collect the enlistment money). It is a confession, but not the kind in which remorse is pretended. Genet's self-revelation is mischievous, unrepentant, and not to be trusted. Genet strokes his central paradox-that total degradation can produce spiritual exaltation-as if it were a pet cat. Speaking of his beggar's lice, he says: "Having become -as useful for the knowledge of our decline as jewels for the knowledge of what is called triumph, the lice were precious...
Dozza thrives on paradox. When Bologna's Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro ordered the shaky old church of San Giorgio torn down, it was Dozza who insisted on repairs to preserve it as an historic landmark. In 1956, when a Christian Democratic candidate for mayor tried to undercut Dozza by promising sweeping social-welfare programs, the Red mayor branded his scheme financially irresponsible, and was re-elected by a landslide...
...extant work consists only of brief fragments declaring cryptically that the universe is in flux, that life is a ceaseless struggle of opposites: fire and water, earth and spirit, love and hate. Fowles shares Heraclitus' reverence for life, his clear-eyed contemplation of the tragic, his love of paradox; and he is even more eloquent...
...seven is the normal limit of rote memory." (Example: telephone numbers.) Whether plugging cat food or a candidate, sloganeers lean heavily on such verbal devices as alliteration ("Korea, Communism, Corruption"), rhyme ("All the way with L.B.J."), or a combination of both ("Tippecanoe and Tyler Too").* Other familiar standbys are paradox ("We have nothing to fear but fear itself"), metaphor ("Just the kiss of the hops"), metonymy ("The full dinner pail"), parody (a Norwegian travel folder promises "a Fjord in Your Future"), and punning ("Every litter bit helps"). By using what semanticists call "affective" language, many slogans deliberately exploit chauvinism ("Made...