That’s Paul Clements’ latest biography, which I really enjoyed. Partly I liked it because I’ve never really liked his writing, or found it to make sense. For me this book (somewhat unintentionally) raises questions about why so much travel writing doesn’t age well, and why so much travel writing is simply boring to read, even though a trip to the same place might be fascinating.
Here is one great verse:
… by average, Morris’s books alone have more than five million words – and then there’s his journalism and literary criticism, which runs into several million more. From the days of the Arab News Agency in 1948 to its end, his work spanned seventy-three years of publication. All aspects of his life inspired his writing; His entire published collection, from 1956 to 2021, consisted of fifty-eight books, while he edited another five volumes.
Posterity will miss Jan Morris. What makes him work sui generis the unconventional way in which he combines topography, social context, history, personal anecdote, and dramatic imagination. Morris created an unexpected style that was powerful, precise and exciting. His was a language nurtured by children’s music, created by The Book of Common Prayer and Shakespeare, inspired by journalism, and inspired to travel the world as a student of human nature. Like all writers, Morris had his flaws: his powerful vocabulary included such words as ‘tatterdemalion,’ ‘swagger,’ ‘gallimaufry,’ ‘coruscate,’ ‘fizz,’ ‘parvenu,’ ‘rodomontade,’ ‘gasconade,’ ‘palimpset. ,’ ‘simulacrum,’ ‘fandango,’ and ‘chimerical.’ All three of Morris m’s – the magnificent, the bitter, and the mass – move through his work, not forgetting his love for two Welsh –hwyl again hiraeth. His writing could be a luxury at times, but Morris never considered himself a writer. He is the one who called his work, by The Writer’s World‘hedonistic,’ ‘boisterous,’ and ‘flawless,’ In a 1998 quiz, Morris was asked how he would like to be remembered, and he replied: ‘As a happy and loving writer.’
Besides, not all of those quotes seem strange to this writer. Swagger, fizz, and parvenu are commonly used, chimerical as well.
Among its other advantages, I feel this book is a good take on British history and the history of British intellectuals. In any case, you can buy the book here, and I’ve ordered some of Morris’ works to read. If I like any of them, I will let you all know.
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