We Need Silence to Find Out What We Think

October 12, 2015
This welcome volume assembles essays, three previously unpublished, and other nonfiction writing from Hazzard (The Great Fire.) Born in Australia in 1931, Hazzard moved to the United States in the early 1950s. Now best known for her novels, Hazzard also found a role in the ’50s as a public intellectual, writing for such publications as the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Times Literary Supplement. The most visceral entries here are undoubtedly the five scorching essays on the United Nations (for which Hazzard worked when she first moved to New York City) and its secretary-general, Kurt Waldheim, in the 1970s, in which she excoriates the organization for cowardice and ineffectualness. Hazzard employs language like a knife, with precision and incisiveness, and though she uses words to pugilistic effect in the U.N. essays, she also employs them in glowing, contemplative, and joyous ways, whether to praise the writers Muriel Spark and Barbara Pym or to express her belief in the value of literature. What comes through most clearly is Hazzard’s delight in the English language and its capacity for expression and communication. The concluding selections—Hazzard’s 2003 National Book Award acceptance speech and her remarks from a 2012 New York Society Library discussion—provide a gracious end to a thought-provoking collection.

Starred review from October 1, 2015
Masterful essays from an award-winning fiction writer. Assessing the novels of Barbara Pym, Hazzard (The Great Fire, 2003, etc.) writes, "her candid, penetrating humanity can be disconcerting, like a quiet, strong, perceiving presence in a busy room." Much the same can be said of Hazzard's exquisitely crafted essays, which radiate with shrewd wisdom and intelligence. Of the pieces collected here, only three, lectures she delivered in Princeton's Gauss Seminar series, have not been previously published in periodicals or as contributions to books. Editor Olubas (English/Univ. of New South Wales; Shirley Hazzard: Literary Expatriate and Cosmopolitan Humanist, 2012, etc.) notes that Hazzard sees nonfiction as "something of a distraction]from her primary labor." But the same qualities acclaimed in her fiction are evident here: acute attention to language and a passionate commitment to fostering "the private bond, the immortal intimacy" between reader and writer. Among many fine pieces are an elegy to her mentor William Maxwell, who first published her stories in the New Yorker and became a cherished friend; her praise of Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick White for work that celebrates "the bloom of a bound humanity"; and five uncompromising critiques of the United Nations, where Hazzard worked in the 1950s. Characterizing the U.N. as a useless body of frightened men, she calls for reforming the "corrupt political basis" endemic in the organization, singling out former Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim for his disastrous record on human rights. One autobiographical essay stands out for its gentle, telling revelations of the author at 16]naive and craving adventure]living with her parents in Hong Kong, where her need for "an occupation" was fulfilled by a mundane job in a government office. Sent on an assignment to Canton, she recalls the alien "contours of Eastern lands, those landscapes that have never heard of Romanticism or Impressionism." A rich, urbane, insightful collection.

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November 15, 2015

Multinational citizen Hazzard won the National Book Award in 2003 for her novel, The Great Fire, and is best known for her fiction. These lesser-known essays were penned between the early 1960s and into the 2000s and span topics from writing philosophy to politics. Also included are a number of book reviews and a few speeches. The substance of many of these pieces, such as that of Hazzard's political opinions regarding the uselessness of the UN is fairly interesting. However, the prose, particularly that on her writing philosophy, is quite dry and distractingly laden with quotes from other authors (there are 19 in the titular essay, which takes up a mere eight pages). Additionally, while a handful of Hazzard's political points may be salient, overall, the essays add little new information to the global discussion. Another small note (though this collection is not the only offender); it is vexing when the date and circumstances of an essay are not printed on its title page. For example, the lengthy essay "The Lonely Word" was part of a seminar presentation at a university in 1982, valuable information that can make a difference in understanding the content. The dates and circumstances are located in the notes in the back of the book. VERDICT Recommended to fans of Hazzard but to few others.--Benjamin Brudner, Curry Coll. Lib., Milton, MA

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