Writers Write - Good Writing Has Its Own Necessity

By way of haphazard research I find myself reading a collection of C.H. Sisson articles, Anglican Essays. I say haphazard because I first came across Sisson because of his elegant but deeply felt animosity towards the work of Walter Bagehot. These very Anglican essays leave poor old Walter out of it. If you want to see Walter condemned then search out Sisson's The Case of Walter Bagehot.

Anyway here is a bit of Sisson that damns a lack of felicity in the written word. He puts it so well that you find yourself scared to go back to writing:

But these are large claims, and Good is a dangerous thing to be sure you are Doing. Moreover, good writing has its own necessity, a humble one no doubt, but even a divine should think carefully before he asserts that he is excused from it.

US poster

 Enough of this. Let me tell you about a nice film, underrated by the critics I think. Released here as The Perfect Catch, it is in fact (and as it was released in the USA) the americanised version of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. As with the earlier film of Hornby's High Fidelity the change of continent does no harm, indeed in the case of The Perfect Catch the switch from football to baseball adds to the fun - Boston's miraculous season in 2004 being intrinsically more dramatic even than Arsenal's 1989 league title. 77/100.