V. S. Pritchett
V. S. Pritchett
Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett CH CBE, was a British writer and literary critic...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth16 December 1900
spirit assertive cautious
The Canadian spirit is cautious, observant and critical where the American is assertive.
thinking habit curious
Life — how curious is that habit that makes us think it is not here, but elsewhere.
fashion criticism stories
Criticism changes with the fashion of the time. A story is always a story.
writing suicidal home
The businessman who is a novelist is able to drop in on literature and feel no suicidal loss of esteem if the lady is not at home, and he can spend his life preparing without fuss for the awful interview.
action tranquility used
We are used to the actions of human beings, not to their stillness.
depressing men minutes
Sooner or later, the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing.
giving storytelling tales
A touch of science, even bogus science, gives an edge to the superstitious tale.
looks world roles
It is the role of the poet to look at what is happening in the world and to know that quite other things are happening.
believe what-if unsuccessful
It is exciting and emancipating to believe we are one of nature's latest experiments, but what if the experiment is unsuccessful?
language spells
I am under the spell of language, which has ruled me since I was 10.
writing mind landscape
Writing enlarges the landscape of the mind.
writing details stories
Short stories can be rather stark and bare unless you put in the right details. Details make stories human, and the more human a story can be, the better.
dog attitude character
[London] is sentimental and tolerant. The attitude to foreigners is like the attitude to dogs: Dogs are neither human nor British, but so long as you keep them under control, give them their exercise, feed them, pat them, you will find their wild emotions are amusing, and their characters interesting.
order giving use
On one plane, the very great writers and the popular romancers of the lower order always meet. They use all of themselves, helplessly, unselectively. They are above the primness and good taste of declining to give themselves away.