August 18th, 2010 / 7:02 pm
 Blind Items & Massive People & Snippets
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RIP, Frank Kermode. This was a deeply important book to me circa 2006-2007.

12 Comments

  1. August 18th, 2010 / 8:22 pm Emily Perkins—

      Same. And still.

  2. August 18th, 2010 / 8:27 pm alan—

      This is a felt loss for me. Of all the things he wrote that have been important to me, the one I guess has meant the most is “The Genesis of Secrecy.”

  3. August 18th, 2010 / 8:55 pm joseph—

      he’s badass. the article’s “look how humble!” attitude is not.

  4. August 19th, 2010 / 12:01 am Justin Taylor—

      “The Sense of an Ending” meant a lot to me, too.

  5. August 19th, 2010 / 12:22 am Emily Perkins—

      Same. And still.

  6. August 19th, 2010 / 12:27 am alan—

      This is a felt loss for me. Of all the things he wrote that have been important to me, the one I guess has meant the most is “The Genesis of Secrecy.”

  7. August 19th, 2010 / 12:55 am joseph—

      he’s badass. the article’s “look how humble!” attitude is not.

  8. August 19th, 2010 / 4:01 am Justin Taylor—

      “The Sense of an Ending” meant a lot to me, too.

  9. August 19th, 2010 / 10:03 pm Donald—

      ~8 weeks ago I tried to get his contact details via a tutor of mine who had been a contemporary of his in his time at Cambridge. I was looking for an internship at the London Review of Books. I discovered that he was terminally ill and couldn’t be reached.

      It’s a shame. I only came to his work in the past 6 months or so, during my first year as an English undergrad, but already he’s had a profound impact upon my thoughts and the way I approach literature. I’ve read a handful of essays, along with “Romantic Image”. He seems to have been brilliant, for all the reasons that every publication everywhere is listing — for his sanity, as they say, and for the accessibility of his erudition.

      In a way, it’s also a shame that his death is a shame at all. He lived a long life, clearly, and accomplished an enormous amount. The shame is that he was, I think, the last of a dying breed — of the prominent literary critics. It isn’t obvious that anybody is ready to take his place.

      Maybe I’m wrong, though. I’m hardly an expert on the topic. Zadie Smith, perhaps.

      Regardless, I’m looking forward to discovering more of his output. This looks like it’ll make for some great Autumn reading: http://www.lrbshop.co.uk/product.php?productid=18469

  10. August 20th, 2010 / 2:03 am Donald—

      ~8 weeks ago I tried to get his contact details via a tutor of mine who had been a contemporary of his in his time at Cambridge. I was looking for an internship at the London Review of Books. I discovered that he was terminally ill and couldn’t be reached.

      It’s a shame. I only came to his work in the past 6 months or so, during my first year as an English undergrad, but already he’s had a profound impact upon my thoughts and the way I approach literature. I’ve read a handful of essays, along with “Romantic Image”. He seems to have been brilliant, for all the reasons that every publication everywhere is listing — for his sanity, as they say, and for the accessibility of his erudition.

      In a way, it’s also a shame that his death is a shame at all. He lived a long life, clearly, and accomplished an enormous amount. The shame is that he was, I think, the last of a dying breed — of the prominent literary critics. It isn’t obvious that anybody is ready to take his place.

      Maybe I’m wrong, though. I’m hardly an expert on the topic. Zadie Smith, perhaps.

      Regardless, I’m looking forward to discovering more of his output. This looks like it’ll make for some great Autumn reading: http://www.lrbshop.co.uk/product.php?productid=18469

  11. August 21st, 2010 / 8:22 pm Nathaniel Otting—

      Frank Kermode was in private a genial man, fond of a good pipe, and many felt for him when he was the victim of a highly unfortunate incident in 1996. Expecting the arrival of some men to help him move house, he blithely handed the 50 cardboard boxes containing his library of 2,500 books, including many rare volumes, to the two burly types who knocked on his door. The entire collection was duly lost to the compressor of the municipal dustcart. (from the obit in the TELEGRAPH)

      SENSE OF AN ENDING, yes; also FORMS OF ATTENTION, and essays on and on, an *education*

  12. August 22nd, 2010 / 12:22 am Nathaniel Otting—

      Frank Kermode was in private a genial man, fond of a good pipe, and many felt for him when he was the victim of a highly unfortunate incident in 1996. Expecting the arrival of some men to help him move house, he blithely handed the 50 cardboard boxes containing his library of 2,500 books, including many rare volumes, to the two burly types who knocked on his door. The entire collection was duly lost to the compressor of the municipal dustcart. (from the obit in the TELEGRAPH)

      SENSE OF AN ENDING, yes; also FORMS OF ATTENTION, and essays on and on, an *education*