Argot & Conart

Dear Sir,—What a lot of useless palaver there is written up here! Useless because it repeats unnecessarily the triteness of life—so much triviality is that it is "realistic." The writers mourn the monotony of life in monotonous phrases—I suppose that is why it is realistic writing! They choose as subjects only the defeated men, the ones who see this monotony and do nothings about it secure in their own conformity: and the ones who just heroic in their self-sacrifice. These writers say "Isn't it a pity that such people are stereotyped—lifeless! So we must by our writing make more people aware that everything is monotonous lifeless. And that way they become paragons of conformity. What are they but the greatest defeatists at them all! Anyone but anyone can be a defeatists.

Three Irish cheers for the Contemporary arts group! It's doing something! After reading "argot" 2 the report of the first concert they gave—and the short story that followed it, I was struck by the incongruousness of them both—the active review and the passive, negative short story. I was struck, enough to write this letter and I won't promise not to be active again—I am, etc.

Judith Tuohy.

Letters