CUTTING THROUGH HUMBUG

In the April 2007 issue of Literary Review there is a review under this heading by Frances Wilson of DECENCY AND DISORDER: THE AGE OF CANT 1789-1837 by Ben Wilson, Faber & Faber pds20.00

I thought you might enjoy the opening and closing paragraphs, I know I did.

“Cant is one of those kooky, quaint four-letter words which have long since lost their power to offend. Like ‘culture’, the slipperiness of its meaning makes it almost impossible to define, and much of Ben Wilson’s annoyingly brilliant analysis of the period called by Byron ‘the age of cant’ could serve as an appendix to Raymond William’s “Key Words”………………
To some the word cant was simply a reminder to a foul-mouthed youth of the importance of politeness, or cleaning up the mess after a party, while to others cant was synonymous with insincerity, hypocrisy, dogma, imposture, and jargon.

“Decency & Disorder” is a lambasting attack on philistinism, and Ben Wilson is to be credited with the dubious merit of bringing ‘cant’ back into the language.


Something I noticed in this issue of the Literary review was the number of non-fiction titles with sub-titles. Here are a few of them:

The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin’s Special Settlements

A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The Story of the Taj Mahal

The Mughal World: India’s Tainted Paradise

No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War

Hubbub: Filth, Noise and Stench in England, 1600-1770

Planet Chicken: The Shameful Story of the Bird on Your Plate

The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace

The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma

Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi

Panama Fever: The Battle to Build the Canal

Divas and Scholars: Performing Italian Opera

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector
Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945

There are many more.