He also traveled to Europe twice. All the while he suffered from gout and high blood pressure. It is an error to suppose that other people can have nothing interesting to say. Nobody is interested in hearing about other people's illnesses.
Nobody is interested in hearing about deaths, unless they can be made pleasing or amusing.
I was principally struck, on this first visit, by his distinguished appearance and manner. He is very Edwardian still, and his way of saying ''Don't you know'' would seem dated to Angus Wilson, though to me it seems perfectly natural - we used to say ''Don't you know'' in my youth. BUT in general I felt about his personality that it was continental rather than English. His round blue eyes had big red circles around them. I then began to question him about points in his work that I had never understood.