Interlude 3: Marshall and Porter, Alan and Hal
Interlude 3: Marshall and Porter, Alan and Hal
My next two essays are about two men, both of them solitary yet highly social, who decided, quite early in their lives, that they would become writers. This raises the question of whether those who aspire to be writers have much idea of what it is they want to take on and I think the best available answer is that it is the path that seems compelling even though its destination, and its route, remain unknown. Marshall and Porter are not usually coupled together, but I think they belong in each other’s company, not least because they knew each other at the outset of their careers, and maintained the link for a time by letters. [read more]
Introduction:
In 1981 Patrick White published an autobiographical book called Flaws in the Glass; the Melbourne Age commissioned two reviews, one of them from Hal Porter, who said, among many things unflattering to ‘Mr White’:
Writers of my sort can be said not so much to read as to examine another writer’s work rather as one car freak examines the vehicle and driving of another car freak. One says, “Splendid vehicle! Superb driving!” Or, “Nice vehicle! Ghastly driving!” Or, “Can’t stand that kind of cumbersomely pretentious vehicle! And what bewildering and erratic driving!”
Hal confesses that the third attitude is his to the novels and plays of ‘Mr White’. I will say no more at this point about Mr White or Mr Porter, but I quote this comparison of writer and car freak because in the essays that follow I am the freak who comments on others of his kind. I know I can’t see my essays as others will see them but I imagine some readers accusing me of many things, and others, well trained, perhaps, in one or another school of literary or social criticism, who will think my observations no more than shallow or ignorant. To such people I can only say that these essays offer whatever it is that a fellow-writer can offer, and don’t pretend to offer anything else.
