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Aug. 26th, 2004 08:32 pmFor Gore Vidal, a Last, Long Look From the Heights
This makes me sad. I always imagined Gore Vidal in his villa as being like John the Baptist in his cave, or Thoreau at Walden Pond: A solitary man removed from the society he's trying to save. Oh, Vidal's as much an aristocrat as any denizen of Versailles, but there hasn't been -- and when he's gone, will never be again -- such a committed and eloquent defender of the Republic since the Founding Fathers themselves. I think his living in Italy has a lot to do with that; I like to imagine him sitting in his study, gazing across the sea, and warming up to fire another broadside at the thieves, bastards, and Republicans. At any rate, I certainly don't imagine him someplace as banal as Hollywood.
RAVELLO, Italy
The forever view of the Gulf of Salerno from Gore Vidal's villa rising operatically from the bluffs mirrors the expansive panorama that Tiberius once savored from his clifftop palace on the island of Capri. Facing nearly the same view, each man lived life at the edge of a precipice of his own choosing. "We have a lot in common," said Mr. Vidal, his mordant wit already primed as he faced a morning's portion of granola earlier this month.
To a point. Unlike Tiberius, the Roman emperor who clung to his palace above the cobalt-blue waters until his mysterious death, Mr. Vidal is letting go, selling his 5,000-square-foot villa after 30 years, to move permanently to his other house, in Hollywood. Eat your heart out, Tiberius.
This makes me sad. I always imagined Gore Vidal in his villa as being like John the Baptist in his cave, or Thoreau at Walden Pond: A solitary man removed from the society he's trying to save. Oh, Vidal's as much an aristocrat as any denizen of Versailles, but there hasn't been -- and when he's gone, will never be again -- such a committed and eloquent defender of the Republic since the Founding Fathers themselves. I think his living in Italy has a lot to do with that; I like to imagine him sitting in his study, gazing across the sea, and warming up to fire another broadside at the thieves, bastards, and Republicans. At any rate, I certainly don't imagine him someplace as banal as Hollywood.
