FYS Buckley Book Review

Lauren Neher
We gather here together to celebrate the charm, the wit, and the writings of William F. Buckley
Jr. as seen through his book, Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches. In this book, Buckley, a
prolific writer, leads us merrily through the decades of his work, beginning in the Fifties; grouped by
decades up to and ending with his essays penned in the Nineties. Though the world may have changed
greatly in that time, Buckley is, throughout the decades, unmistakably still Buckley; a wit and a
loquacious, verbose, man who plays with words the way a seal plays with a ball. And now, we gather
here to answer the question of the ages; to wit, should you wish to read this book?

Strangely enough, I lived the first 5 decades of my life rather…Buckley free. The name was
familiar enough; even a half-educated sailor was familiar with the name of William F. Buckley Jr. But I
married, raised a family, divorced, and married again without ever having read any prose by Buckley.
Then came my current college career, and my class, First Year Seminar, where my Buckley-free reverie
came to an abrupt end.

I saw the Disney movie Aladdin innumerable times with my children as they were growing up. I
did not realize that one of the people lampooned by Robin Williams in his spark of insanity, whirlwind
performance was none other than Buckley! Even my wife who never went to college, said, “You didn’t
know who that was?” Cue laughter…

Buckley was more than one of the preeminent voices of American conservatism. A graduate of
Yale University in 1950, where the first essay begins, as he addresses his fellow graduates; with his
essays in this book continuing towards the end of the century. At the end of the Cold War, Buckley
mused that the Cold War had spanned the course of his adult life, beginning as he passed from teenager
and ending as he attained senior citizenship.

And what a life it was. After a brief college career at the University of Mexico, Buckley served as
an officer with the U.S. Army during WWII. After the war, Buckley attended Yale, where he excelled at
debate, and joined the exclusively famous Skull & Bones society. Buckley studied political science,
history and economics at Yale, and graduated with honors in 1950.

A scant year later, Buckley published his first book God and Man at Yale, where he criticized the
university for abandoning the university’s Christian heritage to embrace secularism, socialism, and
Keynesian economics, instead of the individualism and free market economics that Buckley the
conservative held dear.

5 years after his college graduation, Buckley started the National Review, known as the flagship
magazine of the conservative movement. Still published today, and active on social media platforms
such as Facebook and Twitter, the National Review is still considered to be the premiere magazine of the
conservative movement in the United States, and is still run by the non-profit National Review Institute
that Buckley founded. A prolific author, Buckley penned more than 50 books, including a series of fiction
novels featuring a CIA agent, and he wrote on many diverse topics, to include writing, speaking, history,
sailing, and of course, politics. He also wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for years.

Buckley was known as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time, and rightly so. His
vocabulary and mastery of the English language was superb, and this showed in his writing; he was
writing for a similarly intellectual audience. If you were not the intended audience, his prose was
FYS Buckley Book Review
Lauren Neher
understandable, though a dictionary was always helpful. Reading Buckley could almost be considered an
education in itself.

As students, we are told to use words sparingly and be concise. Buckley does not do this. His
prose resembles the dense, senseless writings that George Orwell railed against in his 1946 essay,
Politics and the English Language, though unlike those supposed intellectuals lampooned by Orwell,
Buckley does have a point to make. It may take Buckley a while to reach said point; he may carelessly
use words that will require an actual effort for you to understand, but he will reach the point he’s
making, unlike Orwell’s hapless quasi-intellectual authors.

Buckley can be an interesting read, but to me, his words are best spoken, by Buckley himself.
Buckley was an animated man, with a sharp mind and a sharper wit, who was very enjoyable to watch as
he spoke, with his words and amusement reflected across his face as he played at debate. Even his hair
got into the act, moving back and forth with his words, his smiles, and his animated verbal sparring.

One thing that Buckley was able to master was separating his friendships from his political
beliefs. Once fairly common, this seems to be a dying art in today’s world, where two2 years after a
presidential election, people still declare, “I can’t forgive anyone who voted for Trump!” Buckley was
long time best friends with economics professor John Kenneth Galbraith, a renowned liberal; this
despite their political views, which were complete polar opposites. They never let their political
differences stand in the way of their personal friendship, including spending a few months each year
skiing in Switzerland.

In Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches Buckley penned many articles, some as
commencement speeches at colleges, and some as opening speeches in various debates, all of them
uniquely Buckley. He brings you along through the decades, bringing to life the historical events and the
movers and shakers of this country and others, as seen through the lens of Buckley’s intellectual prose,
bringing to life events now long past. In this regard alone, Buckley is an apt and able chronicler of what is
now our history.

Conclusion: If you like reading dense, intellectual prose, and conservative thoughts and values,
of events and people now long past, then this book is definitely for you. Buckley now seems a
throwback, but only because that is what he now is, a conservative (or self-professed libertarian, at
times) who believes in God and holds himself and others to higher moral standards and principles. By
this criteria alone, it is easy to see why he was not suited for politics. He was an honest man. Should you
choose to read this book, I doubt you will be bored. Educated, yes; Bored, no. I was pleasantly surprised,
perhaps you will be too.