A chara, - In his extraordinary diatribe against Roddy Doyle, (February 19th) Bernard O'Grady seems to assert that enduring literary kudos is the preserve of multilingual, widely travelled people who master the classics before attempting to write themselves.
Apart from being classist literary snobbery of the worst kind, this is demonstrably wrong.
The literary canon is neither an old boys' club nor a smorgasbörd of backgrounds and tastes. It represents the best writing in history, and history has no respect for class. True literary talent arises in wretched, alcoholic loners as well as in well-educated, privileged socialites. To suggest that a writer from a particular background cannot produce great work is to deny the existence and relevance of people who have shaped our world.
Joyce can be criticised as much as Roddy Doyle. If we stop criticising, we may as well give up on improvement and smother ourselves in Ulysses. However, it is not in our nature to do so. It is that struggle, our striving for perfection, that defines and produces our greatest works, and not entertaining life stories. - Is mise,
STEPHEN D. COLLINS,
South Circular Road,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.