Books by Charles Taylor

The author is Charles Taylor (yes, the Charles Taylor) and the subtitle is Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment .  This book is a very good introduction to romanticism, and also to the poetry of romanticism, noting that its degree of originality may depend on how much you already know.  I liked the chapters on Rilke and Mallarme best, here is one excerpt:

4. I very much like Charles Taylor’s book on Hegel .  I do not think it is what "Hegel really meant" but perhaps it is what "Hegel would have had to have really meant, had some smart people like Robin Hanson pinned his back against the wall, lectured him about futarchy, and made him write shorter sentences to boot."

Most of all he has rotten diction (odd for a former actor), plus he had no idea what the market-oriented crowd wanted to hear.  Sell short.  I’m still predicting Giuliani ; Hillary will do worse once the attack dogs gear up.  The fascinating but overlong Into the Wild is about, among other things, the weaknesses of family ties in the United States, and how people seek artificial family in response.  In a free society people must, to some extent, put principles of justice and political order abov...