Notes on a Voice

What makes a gothic fairy tale about a plain governess so raw and exhilarating?

The author of “The Bonfire of the Vanities” leaves moralising to others

No-one disputes the vividness of his prose

A mind teeming with other people’s thoughts

A cultish figure with a sprawling talent

A.D. Miller considers the work of W.G. Sebald, reissued by Vintage this Spring

Nicholas Shakespeare examines how his lean and lucid prose intensified the drama of his novels

“His Dark Materials” is recognised as a classic. Tim de Lisle analyses its author’s crisp and vivid prose