"...greatest writerly acts of memorialization ever achieved."
Good Lord, Rex, no one is ever going to accuse you of the same, given that kind of ham-fisted prose. It's positively Soviet in its awkwardness.
You should not forget, although many do, Solzhenitsyn bitterly criticized values in his American refuge.
As long as he was attacking the Soviets, he was a media hero, but when this fiercely honest man turned his attacks to the dark sides of American society he became a media non-person.
__________
"Heaping praise upon Alexander Solzhenitsyn is well deserved. Not sure why Murphy feels the need to juxtapose Solzhenitsyn with Michael Moore. Does one have to be criticized for the other to be properly praised?"
Well put, Gary Wilson.
The truth is that someone analyzing Rex's piece might well come to the conclusion that his praise for Solzhenitsyn is not much more than an excuse for kicking Moore.
The comparison of societal woes Rex makes is actually silly.
Of course, problems nowhere compare to living under Stalin, but if you feel the need to emphasize this thin idea, then we should feel free to make other such comparisons.
The sacrifices of the Soviets in WWII - 27 million killed and utter devastation on a continental scale - make every other sacrifice in any war since seem puny, hardly worth mentioning.
But I doubt Rex would agree with saying that.
