31..
R.EUBEN A. BROWER
uncertain as to what tradition is surely ours if any, and to experience
the terrifying and exhilarating process of living in a society trying to
find its [onn, a process of which Lawrence was both a prophet and an
initiating force. The value of Leavis's voice as of Lawrence's-it is
Leavis's voice that we hear most clearly in this very personal journal–
lies in reminding us of better societies that have been or are to be, and of
their accessibility through literature fully and humanely experienced.
The common pursuit to which he invites us is difficult, irritating,
chancy, and if we cannot join him or go all the way, we may say in the
words of a poem he condemns, "'So get you gone ... but with blessings
on your head!' "
(Editors' note
:
Mary M cCarthy's essay on
Madame Bovary
will appear
as the introduction to a new edition of the novel put out by The New
American Library.)
