Finished Hazlitt's spirited tome (hah!) just before the end of Ramadhan. It was a slow read overall, of what is, in truth, a somewhat fragmented text, dwelling on the fine detail of each portrait, without being in too much of a hurry to move on to the next. Remarkably I think Hazlitt does evoke the zeitgeist despite the fragmentation - indeed, possibly as a result of it, or, at least, aided and abetted by it.
It got me thinking, I suppose inevitably, of what contemporary figures, equivalent to Hazlitt's, might fill an attempt to render the spirit of our own fallen age. (Of course, every age is fallen, but I couldn't resist the phrase.) I don't suppose anyone today would seriously endeavour to produce biographical sketches of no fewer than nine living poets as part of the line-up, more than a third of WH's overall number - and the nine all hailing from the UK.
Which leads me to the simple thought that any contemporary Spirit of the Age would have to include an international cast since a sense of internationalism is integral to our understanding of modern times. Quite a positive thought really. Perhaps our times have not fallen quite so far after all?
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