Clive James: Cultural Amnesia - Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

Hardcover: 876 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company 2007
ISBN: 0-393-06116-7

Clive James' Cultural Amnesia is a remarkable book to remind us of the importance of common sense and moderation in politics and culture. James constructs with short 15-20 page biographic essays (not all of them are on humanists) a narrative for the 20th century European cultural experience. Nazism and communism - the totalitarian twins appear in almost every essay.

James' book - dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Sophie Scholl, among others - is aptly titled, the word amnesia (partial or total loss of memory, blackout) is used to portray the vast amount of wisdom we lose even without knowing it. Our understanding is limited to only partial aspects of history. James' massive 800 odd page book that took him 40 years to write is here aiming to correct that even if a bit; hence the lightbulb on the cover.

"No ideology can tolerate a full historical consciousness. Only realism can..." p. 44

All in all, James manifests a strong and humane plea for all of us to defend liberal democracy and humanism against any threats. Surprisingly he writes against multiculturalism. My favorite essays were on Raymond Aron, Albert Camus, Paul Celan, Marcel Proust, Miguel de Unamuno and the great Sophie Scholl.

Second Opinion: Michiko Kakutani /International Herald Tribune

My first but definitely not the last trip to north Africa featured a short spurt to magical Marrakech, to the Atlantic coast to Agadir and to the outskirts of the Sahara desert: Tiznit, and Guelmim. Morocco is a cool mixture of Europe, Africa and Arabia: a perfectly enjoyable hassle!