Lewis, though, is quoted by Burrill as calling Toronto a 'sanctimonious icebox.' Burrill then quotes Lewis as follows:
If New York is brutal and babylonian, in this place [Toronto] it is as if someone were sitting on your chest -- having taken the care to gag you first -- and were croaking out [hymns] ... from dawn to dayshut.
--p,. 153 of Hemingway: the Toronto Years, William Burrill
As for Hemingway, well, Robert Fulford quotes him as remarking of Toronto (in a letter to Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas), 'What bothers me is why with my fine intelligence I ever came out here.'
4 comments:
I must admit, I have never read anything from Lewis, so I guess that's why I'm asking - what lead him to have such a negative view of Toronto?
I really can't think of any major negative similarities between NY and Toronto.
Heather -- He's talking about Toronto during WWII, when it was culturally much less diverse. Also, Lewis was a snob who resented his association with 'the colonies'.
Could be Canada today, no difference.
Anon -- Canada's come a long way since then.
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