The house was very quiet, and the fog — we are in November now — pressed against the windows like an excluded ghost. - E. M. Forster

Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wants to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.

I know very well how limited and how open to criticism, English freedom is. It is race-bound and it's class-bound. It means freedom for the Englishman, but not for the subject-races of his Empire. If you invite the average Englishman to share his liberties with the inhabitants of India or Kenya, he will reply, "Never," if he is a Tory, and "Not until I consider them worthy" if he is a Liberal.

You confuse what's important with what's impressive.