![]() ![]() I laughed aloud at the suggestion that Hemingway be recognised only as “a footnote to the minor art of Gertrude Stein, an appendix to the biography of the great novelist Scott Fitzgerald,” as posterity seems to be granting The Big Man that status anyway. ![]() ![]() It is perhaps only readers at risk of being torn away from favourite works by cool and intelligent appraisal that risk hurt feelings. No living writers were chosen for their scrutiny (back when the book was published in 1967) so they can also be forgiven for the cold-bloodedness and insensitivity of the criticism. Negative criticism can be destructive but done with discernment contributes much that is useful.īrigid Brophy, Michael Levey and Charles Osborne are not in the least bit awed by the ‘greatness’ of any writer and for the most part don’t fall into the object-subject confusion that devils a lot of criticism of canonical writers. I wish books like Fifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without were more common, providing productive criticism of works whose value may be overstated. The value we ascribe to a literary work is as much an effect of its continued circulation in contemporary culture as its artistry. ![]()
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