Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: One must be so careful these days.

Submitted by Kenneth Kraszewski (United States), Jan 17, 2008 at 01:29

Mr. Pipes,

Are you actually asserting a parallel between the complete oeuvre of T.S. Elliot and "Islamic extremist indoctrination"? I suspect you are not, but I fail to see the analogy that you are attempting to draw between Islamism and modernity through the use of a quotation citing Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Sophocles, Sartre, and T.S. Eliot.

Perhaps an argument can be made that Sartre's existentialism represented an outgrowth of literary modernist tends, but it would be contentious one. The modernists certainly respected Chekhov, but he was bit before their time. I think it took until post-modernism for Dostoyevsky to be so fully resurrected. And Shakespeare? I don't really need to wonder about that.

Your article from 12 years ago didn't entirely elucidate the issue for me. In fact, it really only relates to the Marx's (who in my opinion added little to Hegel) influence on Sayyid Qutd. Which, I whole hearted agree is a valuable area of study.

But it seems a little far-fetched to describe parts of the English Canon as representative of "Islamic extremist indoctrination."

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