>'Trenchant understanding yields so much more for the
>reader (and writer) than a parade of superior taste
>and sharp (or cruel) phrase making.'
Hugh
I am trying to bow out of this one, because of the dullness of endless
repetitions of the same arguments: but I can't resist a comment here. I
think the review under discussion might in fact demonstrate something of
the quality Morag Fraser was seeking; ie "trenchant understanding".
Trenchant, of course, means sharp, cutting, incisive; understanding means
"ability to understand, intelligence, judgement, capable of judging with
knowledge ... the faculty of comprehending and reasoning" (Shorter OED).
Whether or not you agree with it, I think the review demonstrates
these... I am certainly not interested in displaying "superior taste" or
mere "phrasemaking", which reads as playing to the gallery to me, and
seek in all my work to eschew these things.
Best
Alison
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