those who may now be inclined
to pass by a book that-regard–
less of stylistic barbarisms-is
worthy of the most thoughtful
consideration as a landmark in
American social thought.
HARVEY
SWADOS
Valley Cottage, N.
Y.
SIRS:
My reaction was due, as stated,
to non-petulant disappointment
with the intellectual quality of
the book. Last thing I was looking
for was "a set of answers" to po–
litical questions; I gave that up in
1941. ... I did not describe the
book's general conclusions because
the damned thing was so con–
fused and chopped-up and frag–
mentary that I couldn't find any,
beyond such familiar observations
as that the white-collar worker
Allen Tate
IS LITERARY CRITICISM POSSIBLE?
Ortega y Gasset
doesn't enjoy his work much, is
over-competitive, worried about
status, alienated, etc. Too bad
Mr. Swados didn't think to give
just a hint of what these origi–
nal notions
are
that seem to have
totally escaped me; especially since
it's apparently a question of A
Landmark in American Social
'Thought. For me, the book's chief
connection with "the quality of
American life" was that it, too,
("was boring.... And apropos bore–
·.dom: is this really an illegitimate
critical category? Or does Mr.
Swados mean that one should re–
view only books toward which one
feels sympathetic?
If
so, I'm sure
all publishers and many authors
-though not, I think, Mr. Mills
-will agree with him.
DWIGHT MACDONALD
New York, N.
Y.
THE SELF AND THE OTHER
George Orwell
SUCH, SUCH WERE THE JOYS ...
Alberto Moravia
HONEYMOON, BIITER SUN (a story)
In
coming numbers of PARTISAN REVIEW
