Readers Report: Saturday Night at the Greyhound and O Providence

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[[MS 2750/153/3]]

 

O Providence. 
Saturday Nights at the Greyhound.

 

Both these novels held my attention entirely.  The writer seems to me extraordinarily unaffected by any conventional attitude to life.  He describes what he has seen with his own eyes and makes his experience actual to the reader.  He never plays tricks to bring his story into line with the conventional novel.  The result is a most unusual impression of complete truthfulness.  I should very much like to see both books published.

 

On the other hand I am doubtful about their success.  The ordinary reader of novels would probably find them dull.  And neither book has the pretentious writing or obvious psychological complication which would appeal to middle-brows.  I imagine that Saturday Night at the Greyhound would be more likely to "attract attention" than O Providence.  It is shorther and more eventful, and describes an interesting special sort of life.  I think the other book is really more remarkable.  I should recommend publishing the short book first, therefore, and following with the other if the reception of the first is at all encouraging.

 

In any case the author should be encouraged to continue writing.  He seems to me the most interesting new novelist I have come across for several years.

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Reproduced with permission from Penguin Random House UK Archive and Library owner of the Hogarth Press archive collection, held by the University of Reading Special Collections.

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Source: MS 2750/153/3

Readers Report: Saturday Night at the Greyhound and O Providence

Library:

University of Reading, Special Collections

Typescript document with critiques of 'Saturday Night at the Greyhound' and 'O Providence'. It features positive reviews and compliments the author. There are also comments in regards to publishing the work.

 

Typescript document with hand annotation