they were all reading something and they all kept talking about what they were reading. One of them would say: ‘It’s very well written, but parts of it are rather dull.’ Another would announce: ‘Parts of it are rather dull, but it’s very well written.’ Occasionally, someone, with a far-off look in his eyes and a carefully modulated voice, would say: ‘It’s a curious work.’ Or, in rather severer tones: ‘It’s not everybody’s taste.’
