Stumbled upon in the Stacks …. Snap! Canadian literary insults
The other day I was reading Review of Historical Publications Relating to Canada 1910 Vol 15. I feel deeply for poor Frederick Neal, the author of The Township of Sandwich Past and Present c. 1909, who is severely put in his place by the editors:
Unfortunately Mr Neal's account of the Township of Sandwich is not an example of what a good local history should be. Like the earth before creation, it is without form and void. It has no pretensions to literary merit; so far as arrangement goes, it is the most complete jumble conceivable outside of topsy-turveydom; and there is very little of any real historical value in it from one cover to the other.p 107
Snap! Over 100 years later I can still feel the sting of a good insult and am glad that it wasn't me being skewered by the editors.
We have a long run of Review of Historical Publications Relating to Canada in the Stacks at Toronto Reference Library. In 1920 there was a title change to Canadian Historical Review which we have in eMagazine as well as print.
4 thoughts on “Stumbled upon in the Stacks …. Snap! Canadian literary insults”
Funny! but devastating! It would be unusual to see a review like that these days. Thanks for sharing this interesting item.
Thanks for reading the blog and taking the time to leave a comment – I appreciate it. You can imagine that the author was crushed ..but at the same time you can’t help but admire the clever literary putdown – so well constructed!
You might be interested in reading the following books available from Toronto Public Library:
The book of insults ancient and modern : an amiable history of insult, invective, imprecation and incivility (literary, political and historical) hurled through the ages and compiled as a public service
The wicked wit of Oscar Wilde
Poisoned pens : literary invective from Amis to Zola
Viva la repartee : clever comebacks and witty retorts from history’s wits and wordsmiths
I’m sure Atwood has come up with a few clever insults worth quoting.
Topsy-turveydom in the Township of Sandwich – love it.
Thanks for posting Bill V.