There’s an intriguing quote attributed to Giovanni Pico della Mirandola related in a review of the new book The Grammar of Angels: “Voices that mean nothing have more magical power than those that mean something.” (“The Grammar of Angles by Edward Wilson-Lee Review — spellbound”) This accords with the way empty or anti-rational rhetoric seems more effective at manipulation than meaningful or rational language. From anti-factual political demagoguery to stultified religious preaching, maybe what’s at work is simply the visceral gesture of the voice at work on the psyche. It also agrees with my poetry-reading experience. The more carefully my […]