Sublime

The prose is astonishing, and in parts of Black Spring it is even better. Unfortunately I cannot quote; unprintable words occur almost everywhere. But get hold of Tropic of Cancer, get hold of Black Spring and read especially the first hundred pages. They give you an idea of what can still be done, even at this late date, with English prose. In the

when a novelist writes about the future he is really writing about the recent past (the past being all there is to write about – the present is never around for long enough).

She thought of him as a source of knowledge rather than experience; a good, though not contemporary mind, a person rather than a man.

scurrilous

And there is no companionship; there is no human curiosity.

There are no amateurs in the world of children.

Her handlers found her femininity helpful; as Young says, a woman is ‘well accustomed to manipulation for cosmetic effect’.

while his grim future is grimly discussed.

Henry James