Literary Significance and Criticism
"P. D. James chose to write a novel in which crime might figure but would not be the mainspring of the action. The work is a great success -- with the public and with the connoisseurs. ... The diverse characters are admirably drawn and the author's fingerwork in tying and untying threads is as deft as her touches of sordid life and as nimble as her prose."
Read more about this topic: Innocent Blood (novel)
Famous quotes containing the words literary, significance and/or criticism:
“The further our civilization advances upon its present lines so much the cheaper sort of thing does “fame” become, especially of the literary sort. This species of “fame” a waggish acquaintance says can be manufactured to order, and sometimes is so manufactured.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“For a parent, it’s hard to recognize the significance of your work when you’re immersed in the mundane details. Few of us, as we run the bath water or spread the peanut butter on the bread, proclaim proudly, “I’m making my contribution to the future of the planet.” But with the exception of global hunger, few jobs in the world of paychecks and promotions compare in significance to the job of parent.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“...I wasn’t at all prepared for the avalanche of criticism that overwhelmed me. You would have thought I had murdered someone, and perhaps I had, but only to give her successor a chance to live. It was a very sad business indeed to be made to feel that my success depended solely, or at least in large part, on a head of hair.”
—Mary Pickford (1893–1979)