A. E. Coppard Critical Essay | Critical Essay by The New York Times Book Review

Critical Essay by The New York Times Book Review

SOURCE: "A. E. Coppard's Tales," in The New York Times Book Review, January 10, 1932, p. 7.

In this review, the critic arques that many of the stories in Nixey's Harlequin are inferior to Coppard's previous work because they digress from the main story line and fail to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

The ten stories gathered into [Nixey's Harlequin] by A. E. Coppard reveal an accentuation of both the faults and virtues of this brilliant English stylist, but chiefly the faults. There are a greater refinement of phrase and a delicacy of wit and a more profound etching of character; but there is also a more circumfuse narrative, a self-indulgent refusal to stick to the point and a marked reticence in working out human problems to their natural and necessary climax. Coppard refuses to follow the straight line, which is the essence of the short story. He unfolds his narrative...
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