Leavis and creativity
.Sir: Mr Nelder (July 26) doesn't appear to have learnt how to read at the level required for an understanding of Dr Leavis's essay. The science that breeds the progress should, he quibbles, be called the technology, although technology is defined in the Penguin Dictionary as a science of industrial and mechanical arts. He then arbitrarily pins an interpretation to Lawrence's words: "done with him as with most people", without, it seems, pausing to consider whether in its setting the declaration might not mean "done with him and with most others as writers (because of their limited vision)". Even some attempt to reconcile the quoted words with Dr Leavis's statement a little earlier in the essay about Lawrence's spontaneous interest in all kinds of people, shown in a way that was irresistible and without pretensions or designs, might have saved Mr Nelder from an insensitive reading_
L. A rnell
45 Kendrick Road, Reading
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