'The Intellectuals and the Masses' by John Carey

Carey looks at some renowned names such as Jose Ortega, Friedrich Nietzche,  Knut Hamsun, George Bernard Shaw, George Elliot, Alfred Harmsworth, T.S Elliot, and W.B.Yeates. He critically analyses their work in its function of society class and its masses versus intellectuals.

Spanish philosopher Ortega wrote The Revolt of the Masses (1930), where he looks at growth in population as the cause of the masses; Europe's population grew from 180 million to 460 million between 1800 and 1914 ( see page 3).

Nietzche's Zarthustra says ' Many too many are born' (Carey 1992, p. 4).

Hamsun's novel entitled Hunger (1890 and he is known as a father of modern literature.Nietzechian ideas are clearly seen through one of the characters in his novel who says 'I believe in the born leader, the natural deposit, the master, not the man who is chosen but the man who elects himself to be ruler oer the masses' (Carey 1992, p.5).Hamsun believed in 'the great terrorist', who came to be Hitler.

Shaw's novel Immaturity (1879) was not welcomed by publishers, things like Treasure Island were more popular and Shaw 'made a conscious effort to write for the millions' (Carey 1992, p. 6).

Harmsworth is similarily mentioned, due to his 'busy man's paper', the Daily Mail. He wanted to 'deal' with the interests of the 'masses', since the newspaper must make money.