We fought, Wilkie Collins and I. We fought bitterly and with all our might, to a standstill, over a period of about three weeks, on trains and aeroplanes and by hotel swimming pools. Sometimes – usually late at night, in bed – he could put me out cold with a single paragraph; every time I got through twenty or thirty pages, it felt to me as though I'd socked him good, but it took a lot out of me, and I had to retire to my corner to wipe the blood and sweat off my reading glasses. Only in the last fifty-odd pages, after I'd landed several of these blows, did old Wilkie show any signs buckling under the assault.
In "The Polysyllabic Spree," Nick Hornby reflects on his intense literary engagement with Wilkie Collins, illustrating the competitive nature of their reading experiences. Over three weeks, he and Collins seemingly battled each other through their respective works, with moments of frustration and triumph. Late-night readings often left Hornby feeling overwhelmed, as he passionately critiqued and absorbed Collins's writings.
Hornby’s journey through the pages felt like a physical fight, where every chapter read was akin to landing a blow. Despite the effort it took to process the text, he found satisfaction in his progress, and Collins only began to show signs of yielding in the final pages. This metaphor of combat reveals both the challenge and the exhilaration of immersing oneself deeply in a literary dialogue.
