Walter Scott: The Writer (1945)

Abstract

The imperfections of a great writer are like the flaws in a precious stone: they should be regarded as qualities rather than faults. In Scott’s case we have to take into account an attribute of the precious stone distinct from its quality or its rarity — its size. His mere bulk adds something spectacular and stupendous to him which his contemporaries felt and we can still feel. Where all is so huge, the faults are huge too; they are so obvious that certain critics have never been able to see beyond them. Mr E. M. Forster, a man of genius and intelligence, has said that Scott is not even a good story-teller, and has demonstrated it by an amusing account of the plot of The Antiquary.