[Ann Drysdale]

Esther - I'm stumped - whose prose are you pre-supposing?

[basil ransome-davies]

I would guess Ellison's 'Invisible Man'.

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by basil ransome-davies

I've just noticed that the rubric specifies a 'great writer'. Usually 'well-known' or 'famous' is is enough. 'Great' would apply more readily to Melville or Proust than to Larkin (by consensus), but probably 'great' is a slip & well-known will do.

Mea culpa, Basil.

"Well-known" should be sufficient, so I'll get cracking on my "Basil Ransome-Davies" piece.

[Adrian Fry]

Simply, Larkin is a great writer. He looms over late 20th century poetry leaving everyone else to play catch-up.

[Rob Stuart]

James found Father smoking his pipe in the study.
‘Come in, m’boy. Sit yourself down.’
James did as he was bid. Father sat down on the other side of the desk and fixed his son with a shrewd look. ‘Thirteen tomorrow, eh?’
‘Yes Father.’
‘On the threshold of manhood. And that is why you must now put away childish things.’
James frowned. ‘What things?’
‘All those fairy stories and pirate adventures for a start. You’re not going to get into Edinburgh University and become a celebrated author by reading that kind of rubbish. That’s why I’ve had your entire library put on a bonfire and replaced with the likes of Juvenal and Milton. I’m sorry, James, but it’s time you grew up.’
‘I wish I never had to grow up,’ James muttered, turning his face away so that Father couldn’t see his tears.

J.M. Barrie

[John Whitworth]

Is Orwell great? I think so but Nabokov thought he was piss. Is Nabokov great? Larkin is better than Eliot. Is Eliot great? Is Lawrence great. No, he's complete piss.

[Rob Stuart]

Thank you F R Leavis!

[John Whitworth]

My pleasure. But Leavis thought Lawrence was great. Of course Leavis is complete piss. Bazza is great.

[Roger Slater]

Heathrow was a madhouse when the taxi driver deposited Joanne at the door of the terminal with twelve giant suitcases. How could she possibly make it to the gate on her own? Suddenly a young man wearing a porter's cap appeared before her. He had a long beard, bushy eyebrows, and even his fingers seemed to be crusted with fur. Joanne had never seen a man possessed of more hair. He was small, like a boy, but somehow he managed, as if by magic, to lift six suitcases in each arm. Moments later he deposited her and her belongings safely at the check-in counter. After he was gone, Joanne reflected, "That hairy porter was a regular wizard!"

[Rob Stuart]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

"That hairy porter was a regular wizard!"

Very nice, Roger, and probably fits the bill better than my effort. However, Brits don't use the word 'regular' in this sense. Might I suggest 'real', 'proper' or 'absolute' instead?