Mr. Abse's work [Some Corner of an English Field] is vague to the point of carelessness. He makes no apparent effort to complete his book. He merely stops writing and drops the whole thing. But his talent shows in many ways—in his thoughtful understanding of his main characters, and in the effort he makes to discover what they might mean to one another if even one of them could be brought to a sense of direction. And it shows sharply in certain phrases. He describes "the mangy cat with a piece of thin limp rope in its mouth, a length of pain," continuing, "Rope that in fact was the tail of a mouse." (pp. 72-3)