602
PARTISAN REVIEW
not breed a distinctive literature-it can and does, which is precisely the
thesis Richard Chase argues so commandingly. But the dissipation of
talent, the desolation of intellect, the regard for trivia that are so notable
in these three books are equally facts of its existence. These books are
not so much comments on the state of our literature and society as
they are expressions of the permanent conditions within them against
which centrality of intelligence, balance of mind and maturity of value
must continue to make their way.
