| |
Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Monday, September 24, 2007
A weekend with Peter C.
I spent the weekend with Peter C. Newman. Not in person, of course. I mean reading his words. When you do read him, though, you feel like he's sitting right beside you because you can hear his voice coming off the page. Monotonous but colourful, beautiful sentence construction, perfect flow. Obviously very-well thought out, but appears spontaneous. As much as I often dislike what he has to say, every writer dreams to write this way. Only someone with decades of experience can write this well.
First it was his piece on Brian Mulroney in Macleans, which is written as a book review, but is really an attempt to deconstruct Mulroney's persona and motives. At some points he lavishes the ex-PM with praise ("This is a romp on the wild side of Canada's porridge-flavoured politics that has seldom been equalled. It is the most revealing (not always intentionally) autobiography ever written by a Canadian prime minister.") and at others, well, he's less charitable: ("Lacking internal sources of valuation, Mulroney spent a lifetime in search of himself, trying to fill his Gucci shoes.") An interesting read.
The other Newman piece is his post-mortem on the Conrad Black trial, published in the October issue of Toronto Life (not online.) I enjoyed this piece much less (it may have been edited more heavily because it is less authentic-sounding) but it is nonetheless fascinating reading.
Is Alvy Newman around? There, I said something nice about your husband.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 1:50 PM
|
