MacCarthy 's masterpiece
Sit: In his review (Books, 2 June) of Lord David Cecil's collection of Desmond
acCarthy's writing, George Clive writes: There is no sense here of an unwritten Masterpiece.' I wonder. Percy Lubbock, author of The Craft of Fiction, was at Cambridge with Desmond MacCarthy. 1),.ercY told me once that, while all his friends thought MacCarthy the most intelligent undergraduate of their time, they also realised that he far preferred conversation to the labour of writing. Believing that MacCarthy should write a novel, they formed a little society, of which I believe E. M. Forster was a member. They agreed to meet once a fortnight and, at every meeting, read a chapter of the novel Which each of them would have written.
At the first meeting, Percy said, they read out in turn drab chapters of poor stuff — until k came to MacCarthy. He propped a small briefcase up on the table and started to read. They sat entranced, every so often smiling at each other at the success of their ruse. It was magical. MacCarthy now and then would lean forward to turn a page and his friends longed for the pages never to end. Then he stopped. They all clapped. As ne stepped away from the table, MacCarthy somehow knocked over the briefcase. It fell to the ground — empty. He had written nothing; but he was the most charming of
men, he would never have disappointed his friends.
Quentin Crewe
Le Grand Banc
OPPedette 04110, Prance
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