First you ask, what is the money quote? Well, it is an attributive noun or a noun doing the work of an adjective according to William Safire and he provides the example of killer whale. But a money quote is one that will get recognition. So here, from an article by Robert Messenger reviewing the life of author George MacDonald Fraser in the Wall Street Journal is today's money quote. Messenger, discussing Fraser's understanding of the British and Empire states:
For instance, you'd be hard pressed to find a pithier description of what went wrong in Kabul in 1841 than Flashy's appraisal of Gen. William Elphinstone: "Only he could have permitted the First Afghan War and let it develop to such a ruinous defeat. It was not easy: he started with a good army, a secure position, some excellent officers, a disorganised enemy, and repeated opportunities to save the situation. But Elphy, with a touch of true genius, swept aside these obstacles with unerring precision, and out of order wrought complete chaos. We shall not, with luck, look upon his like again."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Sorry to learn from your blog of the recent death of George MacDonald Fraser, one of my favorite authors. The Flashman chronicles are a guilty pleasure. Also two of his non-fiction books, The Steel Bonnets and Black Ajax.
As for the modern-day Elphinstones, not hard to put names to them, eh?
Joan
Post a Comment