Throughout his career, Hawkes has experimented with narrative techniques. Many critics consider this a weakness, proclaiming that Hawkes sacrifices characterization and plot to his experiments, rendering his novels shallow. Some recent literary critics think that his experimentation belongs to a dead literary tradition — the early Modernism of the 1930s — during which many prominent writers experimented with fictional form and techniques. For these critics, Hawkes's recent novels seem old fashioned and no longer significant to a literary community that has moved away from technical experimentation.
A different complaint about Whistlejacket comes from reviewers who note that the portrayal of the painter George Stubbs is historically inaccurate. Stubbs is a real-life figure whose paintings of animals are still held in high regard by art historians. Hawkes takes liberties with Stubbs's life. He switches around events,.....
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