If this is representative of the quality of reviewing in the Inquirer, I think all things considered I'd rather not be in Philadephia. Your piece verges on the crass. Ms. Krissdottir is ‘to be commended for her scholarship and thankless dedication’. Her dedication is doubly thankless when in what is ostensibly review next to nothing is said of the book itself. And on Powys, Conrad Aiken, John Bailey and V.S. Pritchett have much saner and more interesting things to say. A quotation from Porius is as meaningless as a sample 'The Labors of Persiles and Segismunda'. I agree Powys is the polar (‘Platonic’?) opposite of Henry James. It was Henry James who described the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as ‘loose, baggy monsters … fluid puddings’ and it is readers of the last two who might find something to their taste in Powys. Readers of Tolkein, Peake and J. K. Rowling needn’t bother.
I quite agree with the comments by Alan Wilson. This 'review' says nothing about 'Descents of Memory' at all - has Patrick Krupp actually read it or is he just sounding off his prejudices against John Cowper Powys? The quotation from 'Porius' tells us nothing about eh book, the biography or anything else. Can we please have a considered review of this amazingly exciting biography?
4 comments:
I had an acquaintance who wrote a master's thesis on Powys. I was reminded of him from your review and was reminded that he too was a creep.
If this is representative of the quality of reviewing in the Inquirer, I think all things considered I'd rather not be in Philadephia. Your piece verges on the crass. Ms. Krissdottir is ‘to be commended for her scholarship and thankless dedication’. Her dedication is doubly thankless when in what is ostensibly review next to nothing is said of the book itself. And on Powys, Conrad Aiken, John Bailey and V.S. Pritchett have much saner and more interesting things to say. A quotation from Porius is as meaningless as a sample 'The Labors of Persiles and Segismunda'. I agree Powys is the polar (‘Platonic’?) opposite of Henry James. It was Henry James who described the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as ‘loose, baggy monsters … fluid puddings’ and it is readers of the last two who might find something to their taste in Powys. Readers of Tolkein, Peake and J. K. Rowling needn’t bother.
"ouch"
I quite agree with the comments by Alan Wilson. This 'review' says nothing about 'Descents of Memory' at all - has Patrick Krupp actually read it or is he just sounding off his prejudices against John Cowper Powys? The quotation from 'Porius' tells us nothing about eh book, the biography or anything else. Can we please have a considered review of this amazingly exciting biography?
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