"I finished Ulysses, & think it a mis-fire. Genius it has I think; but
of the inferior water. The book is diffuse. It is brackish. It is pretentious.
It is underbred, not only in the obvious sense, but in the
literary sense. A first rate writer, I mean, respects writing too much
to be tricky; startling; doing stunts. I’m reminded all the time of
some callow board school boy . . . full of wits & powers, but so
self- conscious & egotistical that he loses his head, becomes extravagant,
mannered, uproarious, ill at ease, makes kindly people feel
sorry for him, & stern ones merely annoyed; & one hopes he’ll
grow out of it; but as Joyce is 40 this scarcely seems likely."
of the inferior water. The book is diffuse. It is brackish. It is pretentious.
It is underbred, not only in the obvious sense, but in the
literary sense. A first rate writer, I mean, respects writing too much
to be tricky; startling; doing stunts. I’m reminded all the time of
some callow board school boy . . . full of wits & powers, but so
self- conscious & egotistical that he loses his head, becomes extravagant,
mannered, uproarious, ill at ease, makes kindly people feel
sorry for him, & stern ones merely annoyed; & one hopes he’ll
grow out of it; but as Joyce is 40 this scarcely seems likely."
