I see, nobody says you have to take it and you sure will be right about it, but skipp that part and it still is nice book to me, as 99.9 % really gives a very nice trip through the past.
Yes, if only I were a stronger person. The problem is that one, small flaw tends to taint the whole work. Also, if Barzun is making elemental mistakes in something I care about and know well, then I am likely to wonder if there are similar mistakes in the parts I do not know so well.
Also, these mistakes are so commonplace that only a small investment of time reading the refutations of them could possibly open up new vistas to write about.
This thread forced me into my library to retrieve the one Barzun book I own, The House of the Intellect. Skimming a few pages here and there, I am reminded that while I enjoy the mechanics of his writing, I do not so much enjoy his theses.
Ah, well, we cannot all be the last guardians of the language in our towers. Some of his have to be the barbarians at the gates of civilization, I suppose.
