19 APRIL 1957, Page 15

SIR,—Lord, but how solemn these anti-Amis people are! Their main

contentions seem to be (1) that there is some absolute obligation upon Mr. Amis to bow down before the established classics; (2) that if honesty compels him to resist this obligation he should keep quiet about it; and (3) that if he can't keep quiet about it, at least it oughtn't to be the dear old Spectator that hands him his funnel to vociferate through. But if the classics deserve some degree of reverence, by the mere fact of their survival they also, to stave off complete fossilisation, need occasional doses of irreverence as well, so long as it's sincerely felt : the necessary periodic reauthentication of these saintly bones can't possibly be carried out unless someone first hacks open the over-encrusted shrine —and if the relics are still potent, then it will take a lot more than Mr. Amis to wave them away into oblivion.

As to point (3). the answer is simple: just look what has happened to The Times.

And as to Mr. Burns Singer, he sounds to me—if he'll forgive my borrowing his own well-bred method of controversy—a bit of a pup himself.—Yours faith-

fully,

Rock Hill House, Brixhom, Devon

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EDMUND CRISPIN