Collier, John - Geoffrey West (review date 12 December 1934)

Geoffrey West (review date 12 December 1934)

SOURCE: West, Geoffrey. “New Novels.” Times Literary Supplement no. 1717 (12 December 1934): 920.

[In the following review, West finds the stories in The Devil and All to be well written but shallow.]

Mr. John Collier's The Devil and All reveals him as master of the art of saying, with consummate skill, almost exactly nothing at all. These six short stories are a demonstration of accomplishment and dexterity to be compared to the performances of a champion trick skater. His prose glides and turns, pauses and pirouettes, leaps and wheels, and in general does the nicest tricks with unfailing coolness and precision. Seldom is even a comma misplaced, and the screech of an unnecessary emphasis (as the italicization of “human” on p. 31) is so rare as to remain a blemish upon the prevailing perfection. And, like many of the best performers, Mr. Collier prefers a strictly...

[The entire page is 435 words long]

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