Chapter 13, The Flight of Reason, pgs. 306-324 Summary and Analysis

The emphasis of the secular intellectuals shifted from utopianism to hedonism after World War II. Johnson discusses the shift in terms of three writers. Geroge Orwell represented the Old Intellectual with a belief in utopia. He believed that the world could be re-shaped by the power of the intellect. As such he thought in terms of concepts and ideas. Unlike the other writers, he lived among the working class. Orwell accepted the failure of uptopia due to irrationality of human behavior.

Evelyn Waugh believed in the value of personal experience. He also sought for truth in his writings. He had a vision of an ideal society even though he was an anti-intellectual.

Cyril Connelly, unlike Waugh, became involved in politics and worked this into his writings. He was a...