To the Editors:
\nThough I am not in the habit of writing letters to the editor, the article by Samuel Lipman, \u201cBut If the Artist Fail?,\u201d in the February issue provided ample grist.<\/p>\n
Before I comment on the article, I would like to express my appreciation of the magazine itself. I may not always agree with what is said, but hats off to how you say it.<\/p>\n
Emotionally I end up agreeing with the final judgments in most of your articles that deal with the arts. Such is the case with Mr. Lip-man\u2019s. Would that audiences who attend concerts today had the capacity to recognize the importance of the last word in the last sentence of Mr. Lipman\u2019s article: \u201cIt would be a pity if the harsh interior reality artists face in their daily lives were forever to be ignored by those who, in reading about these artists, prefer enjoyment to understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wrath dissipated by the truth of that sentence had reached its height in me with Mr. Lipman\u2019s criticism of the musician as writer, i.e., the comments on Janet Baker\u2019s diary. I doubt whether anyone who did not appreciate Dame Janet\u2019s gift would really be interested in reading the book, except perhaps to be \u201cin the know,\u201d but then \u201cunderstanding\u201d would be difficult to achieve: such a person would really be interested in her as a human being\/artist rather than vice versa. Perhaps through a thorough reading someone might even glean an introduction to \u201cunderstanding,\u201d which was her reason for writ- ing in the first place (shared, no doubt, with monetary rewards).<\/p>\n
In any case, I would suggest, since Mr. Lipman so magnanimously points out the weaknesses of Dame Janet\u2019s talent as a writer, that she be given an opportunity to respond. Mr. Lipman could prepare a vocal recital allowing her an opportunity to act the critic in her own territory. It would certainly provide a rather interesting article for the magazine.<\/p>\n
William E. Lowry
\nGreenbelt, Maryland<\/p>\n
Samuel Lipman replies:<\/em> I want to thank John Joseph, the author of the second letter on Philip Larkin printed below, for pointing out my error in transforming Charles Strickland, Maugham\u2019s protagonist in The Moon and Sixpence<\/em>, into Charles Stackpole. Strickland and Mr. Joseph are right; Stackpole and I are wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2188,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[635],"department_id":[562],"issue":[3249],"section":[],"acf":{"participants":{"simple_value_formatted":"","value_formatted":null,"value":null,"field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_65fd9fbaa0408","label":"Authors","name":"participants","aria-label":"","prefix":"acf","type":"user","value":null,"menu_order":0,"instructions":"","required":0,"id":"","class":"","conditional_logic":0,"parent":"group_647e2b3c6941d","wrapper":{"width":"","class":"","id":""},"role":"","return_format":"array","multiple":1,"allow_null":0,"bidirectional":0,"bidirectional_target":[],"_name":"participants","_valid":1}},"page_number":{"simple_value_formatted":85,"value_formatted":85,"value":"85","field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_647e2bc0c860c","label":"Page 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\nI thank William E. Lowry for his kind comments about The New Criterion<\/em> and about my article. My strictures concerning Janet Baker\u2019s diary were not directed toward her achievement as a singer, but toward the book she has written. The only purpose to be gained by such a book\u2014other than the satisfaction of her many fans and the monetary rewards to which Mr. Lowry refers\u2014is a heightened understanding of art and the life of the artist. In Dame Janet\u2019s case, such understanding was rendered impossible by the sentimental tone and predictable content of what she chose to write. As for Mr. Lowry\u2019s final point, everyone who knows me is quite happy that I am not a singer. I have, however, been a pianist for most of my life. The concerts I have given have been open to, and have been covered by, the press\u2014more than once, to my distress. I have written books; these too have properly been subject to critical commentary. Dame Janet, in making her diaries available to the reading public, has written a book. This book is open, as all books must be, to both praise and censure. In this particular case, Dame Janet and I are in just about the same boat.<\/p>\n