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[The following is from God’s Apology by Richard Ingrams, 1977. Kingsmill is Hugh Kingsmill Lunn, brother of Arnold Lunn, the ski pioneer who invented the slalom ski race in 1922. Pearson is Hesketh Pearson, a successful writer of the 1930s and 40s, and Kingsmill’s good friend.]

Once, when Kingsmill was taken aback by the surprising vehemence with which Pearson reacted to his suggestions, and found himself to his alarm becoming equally vehement, he counseled Pearson, ‘The great thing is not to arouse my combativeness, as that will distort my judgement. I value your criticisms very much and you have already done me good, but I suggest (b) not (a) as the right method:

e.g. (a) My God, Lunn, your puke about Shaw’s Androcles makes me sick. Shaw as a religious teacher wipes the floor with your flat bottomed Buddhas, Assisis, and the rest of the addled goat-bearded rabbit-toothed bunch of mouldy rag-pickers whom for some inexplicable reason you are pleased to favour with your cock eyed approval.

e.g. (b) I don’t quite agree with your careful but in my opinion not quite complete estimate of Shaw as a religious teacher. It seems to me that you have, I won’t say missed, but not altogether seized the full force of the second paragraph on p.8702 of Shaw’s introduction to that, in my view, supreme play That remains to be Seen, etc.

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