nuisances

Oh, and: I.A. Richards, in a letter quoted in "Practical Criticism", describes the first Prac Crit examination in Cambridge in 1923, which is the exam I'm taking, in a slightly different form, on Thursday.

"Beneath at the table are the victims. Beginning to show signs of desperation. Some of them horribly haggard. Some writing like nuisances, what a lot of rot. I shall have to read through this. Oh Alack! Woe's me. *I* now am depressed [...] I *couldn't* make up my mind about anything *ever* in this place or such a place. It smells of dead thoughts, a hellish stink. [...] I think I shall tell Magdalene that I won't coach any people any more for the English Tripos. It's iniquitous, profanation, to expect people to use literature for such purposes. It does more harm than good. [...] This is a dull stream of dry reflections, but this place is really filled with a numbing, dumbing devil. Oh poor people before me, you don't know how I pity you!"