Perhaps, it will see an upswing in the reputation of this original voice once regarded, alongside Graham Greene, as the finest in English. Spark said that writing novels was “the easiest thing I had ever done”, adding, “because it came so easily ... Spark’s reputation as a de-familiariser of the commonplace, or elevator of the ordinary to the unique was built on 22 novels, besides poems and short stories. As David Lodge said, “A truly original writer is a very rare bird, whose appearance is apt to disconcert other birds and bird-watchers at first,” while confessing that after initially being lukewarm to one of her works, he later thought it was a masterpiece. Spark’s insistence that she loved her characters “like a cat loves a bird,” might be partial explanation for the trials she visited upon them.

Source: The Hindu December 30, 2017 13:41 UTC