The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters: English Literary Life Since 1800

John Gross' "The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters" is an intellectual history of the highest order. Beginning with "the rise of the reviewer" in the first half of the 19th century, this witty and erudite book provides an overview of British literary life from the days of Matthew Arnold and Thomas Carlyle up to the age of T.S. Eliot and George Orwell. Along the way a host of less well known "men of letters" are profiled as well. Gross also addresses the factors that led to the decline of this species of intellectual, including the cultural disruptions of the Second World War, changes in technology post-war, and the rise of "mass media." He also raises "the question of whether literature hasn't come to count for less in relation to intellectual life as a whole" in our day. Another significant point raised in the book is the blurring of the line between literary culture and academic culture in the 20th century, and in particular how the rise of the university English department came in many ways to supplant the freestanding literary and critical establishments. On this point, Gross asks: "Isn't there a basic antagonism between the very nature of a university and the very spirit of literature?" For those who appreciate the eccentric, idiosyncratic spirit of the 19th century's independent literary culture over the hierarchical, elitist, and ideologically uniform outlook of contemporary academia, the question resonates strongly.