When literary critic Eileen Battersby gave a less than positive review of Dermot Healy's new novel, she expressed her opinion and thought that was the end of that.
Turns out that she sparked a row that has been flaming on the pages of the Irish Times.
Wouldn't you know, but it's one of several weekends where I didn't read all of the newspaper.
Novelist Eugene McCabe took offense at Ms. Battersby's comments about Long Time, No See. As far as he's concerned, Dermot Healy is a brilliant writer and Ms. Battersby isn't fit to lick his boots, so who is she to dare to criticize?
While all this was going on, Mr. Healy was blissfully ignorant. Once he learned of the spat, however, he became totally unconcerned.
Like any author, he doesn't like to receive a negative review, but it's the nature of the business. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and as long as Ms. Battersby's opinion isn't shared by the majority of the book-buying public, it doesn't much matter. Once the book is written, it's finished and the author moves on to his next work.
A true gentleman, Mr. Healy had nothing negative to say about his critic's writing ability, given that he hasn't read her prose and therefore could not have a true opinion of its quality.
Mr. Healy cares not a whit about the chatter, but in the end, such talk can boost sales of his novel. People will be curious to know who is right in such a heated exchange of rhetoric, and any publicity is good publicity, even if it's something as silly as an argument over who is qualified to offer criticism.
I missed the original review and I probably wouldn't have known about the book if not for the dispute. So it worked. I'll be sure to read the novel now and see for myself who is right.
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