Thought Experiments : The Blog

Monday, December 03, 2007

Shirley Hazzard

I wrote on 27th November that a short novel  - The Bay of Noon - I had read by Shirley Hazzard 'bears comparison with the sublime Marilynne'.  I have just finished The Great Fire. I say 'finished' rather too calmly - so overpowering was the book that it actually seemed possible I might not be able to read the last three pages. But I did and sobbed copiously. It left me with the absolute certainty that I am not good enough in almost every imaginable way. This is a good thing. I have advised Nige to take a couple of days off after completing it. Shirley Hazzard - the real thing.

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