Word: sinning
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...observing that John Steinbeck "tended to diminish humans to the condition of animals, to reduce his characters to their simple biological needs and desires," [Dec. 27] Edmund Wilson commits the critic's unpardonable sin of applying his own standards to another's work. For to make this observation, one must first assume that man is, as Christian philosophy dictates, the earthly king of the universe. This assumption, however, goes entirely against the grain of Mr. Steinbeck's philosophy, which was based upon an intense, pantheistic love of nature, and led him to "animalize" his characters in order...
...erstwhile inquisitor, Brooklyn Democrat Emanuel Celler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and head of the special investigatory body that aired Powell's linen two years ago. "Any additional punishment would be vindictive," cried Celler. "It would be Draconian." He challenged the House: "He who is without sin in this chamber, let him cast the first stone. Judge not lest you be judged-particularly with reference to dear ones on the payroll." That capacious euphemism stirred many of Celler's colleagues to private ire but public charity...
...reason, says Goffman, is that he offends the hidden code of behavior to which all "normal" people subscribe. The man oblivious to the rain is guilty not just of a trivial impropriety, but of the greater sin of social unpredictability. No one can guess with any assurance what ceremony he will next profane. No one can be sure of his respect of public order, without which society would regress to the jungle. Goffman is still exploring the patterns of behavior at social gatherings, which he believes have all the systematic qualities of a language. He is also at work...
...Snow's best efforts, Eliot remains a mere observer. For though Eliot never permits himself the indulgence of easy indignation over the crime, he cannily refuses to press thought to its extremes. He ends by acknowledging that his experience has induced him to believe in "something like original sin." Even in context, this comes off little better than the tag end of a sententious newspaper editorial...
...short, if sex had been the entire issue, Effie might have forgiven Ruskin his glaring sin of omission and settled down as just another glum Victorian helpmeet. But Ruskin, though a recognized genius and cultural lion, hated to go to parties (which Effie loved), could not bear to be disturbed at his work (Effie seemed to regard interruption as a woman's prerogative), and always said "I" instead of "we" when talking of their plans for anything. Worse, he plainly preferred his parents' company to her own. "All their conversation," she wrote, acidly describing an evening with...