The New Criterion
It operates as a refuge for a civilizing element in short supply in contemporary America: honest criticism
- The Wall Street Journal
Fiction ChronicleGlancing over the metaphorical shelves, one is forced to admit a certain trade deficit. Most interesting novels today seem to have been for sale in the U.K. first. Of course, generalizations are dangerous—generalizations based on national stereotypes especially so. What, after all, is true of “the French” or “the Germans”? It’s touchy stuff, and it was with some trepidation that I undertook examining British novels. Certainly Zadie Smith’s return to form after a flop of a sophomore effort was widely praised. On Beauty has been much discussed, but it makes a useful beginning here. It grants us remarkable insight into the current state of British fiction (if such a thing, etc., etc.) because it lifted some motifs from Howards End. Neatly enough, Forster wrote that book over the period from 1908 to 1910: close to a century ago. In the clos ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 24 May 2006, on page 58 Copyright © 2012 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-ever-present-human-hint-of-yellow-2396
rate this article for your user profile
E-mail to friend
|
by Max Watman Reviews of "The View from Castle Rock: Stories," by Alice Munro; "Talk Talk," by T.C. Boyle; and "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," by Marisha Pessl. by Stefan Beck On The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, Zone One by Colson Whitehead, The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco & Cain by José Saramago. by Stefan Beck On The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Slim by Jonathan Coe, Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan, Swamplandia! by Karen Russell & The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. by Stefan Beck On Freedom, 03, A Visit from the Goon Squad & Dogfight, A Love Story.
Webcasts
Anthony Daniels on the Euro Crisis
Andrew C. McCarthy: The Muslim Threat
Roger Kimball: The Grim Future of Statism Weblog 
|
add a comment
you must have an account to post a comment. {register now}